“It’s an Egomaniac Monday!”

AP Literature and CompositionJanuary 28, 2013

Mr. Houghteling

AGENDA

Visual LiteracyQuickquiz of “My Last Duchess.” Complete study of “My Last Duchess.”

Begin “Porphyria’s Lover.” Conclusions? Dramatic Monologue assignment.

This is a painting of Lucrezia di Cosimo de’ Medici, who was married at 14 to the 25-year-old Alfonso Il d’Este, the fifth Duke of Ferrara.

Lucrezia was not well educated, but she came to the marriage with a substantial dowry. They married in 1558.

Alfonso abandoned Lucrezia for two years before she died on April 21, 1561 at age 17. Poison was suspected as the cause of death. —Wikipedia, “My Last Duchess”

Review the painting with the text of the poem. Does Browning’s description of the Duchess coincide with the image you see here? Why or why not? Use textual evidence to confirm or deny that Browning’s description is appropriate.

HOMEWORK

Complete Inference Chart of “My Last Duchess.”

Complete interpretation of painting (SLIDE 6).

Inference Chart

“My Last Duchess” “Porphyria’s Lover” Inferences

Speaker

Woman

Setting

Past Events

Inferences

Speaker

Woman

Setting

Past Events

Venn Diagram

Speaker’s opinion of self

Your opinion of the speaker

Dramatic Monologue

1. A single person, who is patently not the poet, utters the speech that makes up the whole of the poem, in a specific situation at a critical moment.

2. This person addresses and interacts with one or more other people; but we know of the [audience’s] presence, and what they say and do, only from clues [from the] single speaker.

3. The main principle controlling the poet's choice and formulation of what the speaker says is to reveal to the reader, in a way that enhances [his/her] interest, the speaker's temperament and character.

From critic M.H. Abrams:

Paired Reading Activity

Get a partner. One partner shall prepare a dramatic

reading of “My Last Duchess,” the other shall prepare a reading of “Porphyria’s Lover.”

As you read, annotate, and analyze the poems, complete both the inference chart and the Venn diagrams for each poem.

“My Last Duchess”

Takes place in 16th-century ItalyBased on the life of Alfonso II, duke of

Ferrara. The duke is negotiating to marry the

daughter of a powerful count. As the poem begins, the duke is

showing a portrait of his former wife to the count’s agent. ◦Frà Pandolf: a fictitious friar and painter◦Claus of Innsbruck: a fictitious Austrian sculptor.