It was nice to see a performance at the beginning of class today from Kathleen and Janice, as they reacted a scene from The Importance of Being Earnest. Their props and costumes was a nice touch to the scene as well. Also, let's not forget Jeff's short but memorable entrance as the Butler...

Then we transitioned into more serious discussions and read through "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" together. Gray's somber poetry stirred questions about death and the inevitableness of it. He writes as a observer, who realizes the significance of the people, strangers, who are buried in the churchyard. Gray reminds us that although wealth and pretty things may matter for the living, death does not value these things. Towards the end, Gray wonders what people will think of him when he dies, and he hopes to be remembered as a simple man who enjoyed life.

For homework: Read p. 440 TO A MOUSE , p. 444 THE LAMB, p. 446 THE TIGER.