Charge of the Light Brigade

Charge of the Light Brigade

Half a league half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred:
'Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns' he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

'Forward, the Light Brigade!'
Was there a man dismay'd ?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Some one had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do & die,
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd & thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.

Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turn'd in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army while
All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack & Russian
Reel'd from the sabre-stroke,
Shatter'd & sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
While horse & hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.

When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wonder'd.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!

Jackson J.

Beautiful Quotations

Book 2 Chapter 12 Page 212
"He tightened his hold in time to prevent her sinking on the floor, but she cried out in a terrible voice, 'I shall die if you hold me! Let me fall upon the ground!' And he laid her down there, and saw the pride of his heart and the triumph of his system, lying, an insensible heap, at his feet."

Book 2 Chapter 10 Page 195-196
"It became the business of Mrs Sparsit's life, to look up at her staircase, and to watch Louisa coming down. Sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly, sometimes several steps at one bout, sometimes stopping, never turning back. If she had once turned back, it might have been the death of Mrs Sparsit in spleen and grief."

Book 3 Chapter 1 Page 216-217
"He said it earnestly, and to do him justice he had. In gauging fathomless deeps with his little mean excise-rod, and in staggering over the universe with his rusty stiff-legged compasses, he had meant to do great things. Within the limits of his short tether he had tumbled about, annihilating the flowers of existence with greater singleness of purpose than many of the blatant personages whose company he kept."

Jackson J.

In Hard Times, Bounderby claims to be a self-made man: but as the story progresses we see this may not be completely true. What is Dickens saying about the self-made man through the character of Bounderby, does he exist?

Fiona M.

Significant Passages:

A) p. 131 Chapter 3 Whelp

“It was very remarkable that a young gentleman who had been brought up under one continuous system of unnatural restraint, should be a hypocrite; but it was certainly the case with Tom. It was very strange that a young gentleman who had never been left to his own guidance for five consecutive minutes, should be incapable at last of governing himself; but so it was with Tom. It was altogether unaccountable that a young gentleman whose imagination had been strangled in his cradle, should be still inconvenienced by its ghost in the form of groveling sensualities; but such a monster, beyond all doubt, was Tom.”

 The excerpt from an early chapter of Book 2 is an example of the narrator giving his opinion and perspective not only on the character, Tom, that it revolves around but also other parts of the society and other important characters. A narrator who is passive in telling the story and offers no opinion or bias about the happenings is not one who says “It was very remarkable…” or “it was certainly the case with Tom.” Both these phrases describing Tom are not only sarcastic but through their opinionated voice, paint Tom as one who is weak. But when the reader is able to combine the sarcasm and satire that the narrator is incorporating with the description of what has happened to him: “brought up under one continuous system of unnatural restraint” and “a young gentleman whose imagination had been strangled in his cradle,” they reach the verdict that the narrator has an opinion and view on what is happening in the book and is making a commentary on the institutions and society that the characters live in.

 B) p. 250 Chapter 5 Found

“The spectacle of a matron of classical deportment, seizing an ancient woman by the throat, and haling her into a dwelling-house, would have been under any circumstances, sufficient temptation to all true English stragglers so blest as to witness it, to force a way into that dwelling-house and see the matter out. But when the phenomenon was enhanced by the notoriety and mystery by this time associated all over the town, with the Bank robbery, it would have lured the stragglers in, with an irresistible attraction, though the roof had been expected to fall upon their heads.”

 The excerpt from a middle chapter of Book 3 describes a scene and various background characters not in a passive tone, but one with opinion. It is almost as though the narrator is a person and the readers are just hearing their account of what is happening in the slum area of Coketown. The paragraph is again in a sarcastic voice when describing the treatment and the expectations of how to treat the Hands—or stragglers—in Coketown. The narrator seems to make a commentary that the expectation on how to treat the Hands is to “Seize an ancient woman by the throat” and how actions like these are expected when interacting with the low working class. Then the narrator goes on to make a commentary on how the scandal that occurred would have thought to “lure the stragglers in” but then the “roof had been expected to fall upon their heads.” This interpretation is not one through a passive narrative voice but one that is interpreted and told in a certain way and light.

Appreciating Language:

A)     Book 1 Chapter 3 p.16

“No little Gradgrind had ever seen a face in the moon; it was up in the moon before it could speak distinctly. No little Gradgrind had ever learnt the silly jingle, Twinkle, twinkle, little star; how I wonder what you are! No little Gradgrind had ever known the wonder on the subject, each little Gradgrind having at five years old dissected the Great Bear like a Professor Owen, and driven Charles’s Wain like a locomotive engine-driver.”

I really enjoyed the language that Dickens used in this passage and how it was clear, due to the various allusions and analogies, that it took so much time to formulate such a descriptive paragraph, especially one so early in the book so Dickens is still introducing characters and the setting.

B)      Book 2 Chapter 11 p. 205

“Mrs. Sparsit saw him detain her with his encircling arm, and heard him then and there, within her (Mrs. Sparsit’s) greedy hearing, tell her how he loved her, and how she was the stake for which he ardently desired to play away all that he had in life. The he had lately pursued, turned worthless beside her; such success as was almost in his grasp, he flung away from him like the dirt it was, compared with her.”

In this passage, I enjoyed how Dickens was able to portray so much of the two characters, Mrs. Sparsit and Bounderby, in such a short excerpt. It is clear through the scene and actions painted of them that they are both materialistic characters and how Dickens is in fact making a commentary on the bigger picture of the story and what happens in the story.

Jackson J.

Significant Passage

“Her father might instinctively have loosened his hold, but that he felt her strength departing from her, and saw a wild dilating fire in the eyes steadfastly regarding him.”        

-       Book 2, Chapter 12, page 211

Throughout the book up until this point the symbol of fire is used quite frequently, especially pertaining to Louisa. But it is always a calm, controlled fire that Louisa is looking at, longing for. The narrator always makes it seem as though Louisa does not have this fire, or passion that she wishes she could. But now after she lets all of her emotions and troubles that have been building up out, the fire is inside her. Not only is it inside her however, but it is also a “wild dilating fire”, much different than the calm fire mentioned earlier in the book. What is interesting is that this description of fire almost always comes from the narrator and not Louisa herself. So now that Louisa has come out of her shell, the narrator sees a change in her. This demonstrates the narrator’s changing opinion of Louisa, that she is evolving into a woman of passion instead of complacency.

Victoria M.

1. 

  P. 189 Chapter 9: Hearing the Last of it

“This again made…law to her”.

          The narrator’s sarcastic tone when elaborating on Mrs. Sparsits attitudes and interactions toward Mr. Bounderby reveals her passive aggressive approach to win him over and take Louisa’s place to regain her high position in society- showing the narrator’s negative opinion of Mrs. Sparsit.  Mrs. Sparsit repeatedly calls Louisa “Mrs. Gradgrind” instead of her real title: Mrs. Bounderby. She insists that she does not ”mean” to call her by her wrong name but seen as it is done multiple times, it can be inferred that Mrs. Sparsit is passively and systematically degrading Louisa to make her realize she is not worthy to even be called “Mrs. Bounderby”. Mrs. Sparsit continues her maniacal degradation of Louisa by going as far as making Mr. Bounderby breakfast because his time is “so very precious”. Mrs. Sparsit is moving in on and taking over Louisa’s wifely duties. She plays it off like she is doing Louisa a favor by making her husband breakfast but normally, a stranger would not be so concerned if a their friend had eaten breakfast or not. Mrs. Sparsit makes Louisa look like an inadequate wife by doing her job as “wife” better than her.  The narrator draws a paradox by sarcastically euphonizing Mrs. Sparsits actions; she is very courteous but her actions like calling Louisa “Mrs. Gradgrind” and pointing out all her faults like waking up too late to make her own husband breakfast- reveals that Mrs. Sparsit has ulterior motives and plans to sway Mr. Bounderby away from his own wife into her greedy, open arms.

 

2.

How is poetic justice exhibited in Hard Times through the character of Bounderby; what about the narrator’s tone reveals that it is in fact, poetic justice?

 

3.

http://www.bartleby.com/162/34.html

 

          Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis takes place in 1920s American suburbia. George Babbitt is a family man with a steady job, a house, car and possessions just like everyone else. Babbitt has everything he could ever want but yet as the book goes on the reader can tell he is absolutely miserable in his superficial and unfulfilling life. In the last paragraph of the book, Babbitt reveals that he has never done anything in life that he actually “wanted’ to do. This is reflective of Louisa in Hard Times because although she has everything to make her happy, like a rich husband, a large house and expensive possessions- she is not. Louisa has always done as her father and everyone in Coketown has told her to do, never doing what she wants, not even marrying out of love- just like George Babbitt. Both Hard Times and Babbitt warn of the personal dangers of living a superficial life. Both books urge the reader to do what makes them happy because otherwise they will be doomed to the same unhappy fates as Louis and George.

Brianna M.

1.)    Significant Passage:

The narrator’s opinion of Stephen seems to change, from almost pity in the beginning (“he took no place among those remarkable “Hands”(66)) as his humble life is recounted, to a sort of respect for him as having virtues above the upper class. This is especially apparent in this passage:

 Book Two, Chapter 6, Fading Away
“[Stephen] was neither courtly, nor handsome, nor picturesque, in any respect; and yet his manner of accepting [the money], and of expressing his thanks without more words, had a grace in it that Lord Chesterfield could not have taught his son in a century.” (p. 157)

 

 The listing of Stephen’s less appealing attributes would seem to degrade him, but his single following act seems to overcome all of them. He seems above the higher class of people in that he doesn’t need words to express his thanks, and does it with a sort of natural “grace” that seems inherent to his character. The narrator, instead of focusing so much on Stephen’s hardships in life, begins at this point in the text to focus on his moral character, using descriptions such as “grace” that are not used to describe any other character any other character in the book. It seems as though the narrator’s opinion of Stephen gets higher as the book progresses.

 

2.) Discussion Question: Louisa and Thomas both grow up in the same house on the same rules, yet Louisa turns out a rather thoughtful, kind woman and Thomas turns out to be a lazy mooch who takes advantage of his sister. Is the reason really as he says, “a girl comes out of it better than a boy does”? Or is there another fundamental difference between the upbringing of Louisa and Thomas?

 

              3.)Video Clip  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGoXtSw0Ias

“Part of Your World” – Louisa has all these “things” stored in her head, like Ariel has trinkets in her cavern, but what she really wants is to be part of a world she has been sheltered from all her life—the world of imagination. They both have parents who have tried to shelter them, thinking they are doing the right thing, but actually harming their child.