WSC Literature Support Document

Revisiting the Prologue: Reconstruction in Poetry and Prose

 Isaac Asimov wrote a history of the children of the Neanderthals—of one in particular,
brought forward to our own time. Read his 1958 short story "The Ugly Little Boy" and then
discuss with your team: if you were rewriting this story in 2024, with what we now know about
Neanderthals, would you describe the boy differently? And, if it were up to you, would you
choose to keep him in the present or to send him back to his own era?
 By the mid-1850s, the British were able to use computers to help them dominate the
globe. The 19 century world that William Gibson and Bruce Sterling reconstruct in their novel
th

The Difference Engine (read an excerpt here) is one that that never happened, but maybe
could have—had the scientist Charles Babbage successfully invented a mechanical computer
in 1824. Computers then helped the British invent steam-powered everything, from cars to
tanks to airships—thus the term steampunk for all works set in a more advanced 19 century.
th

Read a bit more about steampunk, then discuss with your team: how do you think people even
further back in the past in the past would have chosen to use modern technology? How would
people today react if suddenly they only had access to 19 century technology? Before
th

punching out, be sure to find out who the narrator of the novel turns out to be.
 Across a tapestry of over a dozen novels, the Canadian writer Guy Gavriel Kay has built
a past almost like our own, but just a bit more fantastical. It also has an extra moon. His
method: to respect the beliefs of the people who lived in any given era. "If I write about a time
inspired by the Tang Dynasty and they believed in ghosts, I will have ghosts in the book," he
says. "If I write about Celts and Anglo-Saxons and Vikings in the time when they believed there
were fairies in the woods, I will have fairies in the woods." His hope is that it allows us to see
the past through the eyes of those who lived in it. Read this excerpt from his most recent work,
All the Seas of the World, then check out the interview here. Pay special attention to his
answer eight minutes in—on his efforts "to tell the stories of people whose stories tended not
to be told". Discuss with your team: how different are the roles of an historian and of a writer
of historical fiction? Can the latter help fill in gaps left by the former—and, if so, should they?
 For the set of poems (and one poetic speech) below, consider how each goes about
reconstructing something—or someone—from the past. Which feel the widest in their scope,
which the most personal in purpose? Discuss with your team: when is poetry the best medium
for looking backward—and can poets ever be trusted as historical sources?
o "A Dog Has Died" | Pablo Neruda
o "Dodo" | Henry Carlile vs. "The Dodo" | Hilaire Beloc
o "Brazilian Telephone" | Miriam Greenberg
o "The Municipal Gallery Revisited" | W.B. Yeats
o "On Shakespeare" | John Milton
o "At the Tomb of Napoleon" | Robert G. Ingersoll
o "Kyoto" | Basho
o "A Brief History of Toa Payoh" | Koh Buck Song
o "Kubla Khan" | Samuel Taylor Coleridge
o "The Czar's Last Christmas Letter" | Norman Dubie
Journalism: An Exposé

 No one ever had an "exclusive" with Napoleon; the very concept of the
interview had to be invented first. Read about its surprisingly short history—
the idea of reporters asking people a series of probing questions only became
common in the late 1800s—then discuss with your team: would news coverage
be better without them? Press conferences, too, are a recent development—
research where and how they started, and how they have changed over time.
 Records suggest that India's first newspaper was Hicky's Bengal Gazette,
published in the 1780s—but that was, at best, the first in the English mold.
Bylines were a byproduct of colonialism; indeed, one of South Africa's earliest
newspapers was unironically called The Colonist. But global cultures and
civilizations have long found other ways to inform the public of important
developments, from the bulletin board to the town crier. Research other ways
that news spread in different areas of the world before the arrival of Western-
style journalism, then discuss with your team: what can we learn from these
methods, and are some of them alive and well today on the Internet?
 Historians draw on newspaper and other records of this kind to construct their
story of the past. But the nature of journalism—what is being communicated,
to whom, and in what formats—has changed over the years. Discuss with your
team: will today's approaches to journalism make it easier for people in the
future to understand who we were and why we made the choices we did?
 Some journalists are themselves in the business of reconstructing the past—
often the recent past, at their own peril, even as others are doing their best to
hide it. Work with your team to investigate the origins of investigative
reporting and some of its most famous success stories,
from Watergate to Weinstein, then discuss with your team: what would you set
out to investigate in this way if you could? Are there times when investigate
reporting might be too risky—or harmful to the public interest?
 Title, Author, year, Short Summary Longer Summary Connections, other notes
other basics

"The Ugly Little Boy" A scientist brings a Stasis, Inc. is a scientific research organization Isaac Asimov was
Neanderthal child headed by Dr. Gerald Hoskins that succeeds in included in the
Isaac Asimov into the present and bringing a Neanderthal boy into the present. curriculum last year.
1958 the child turns out Miss Edith Fellowes is hired to take care of him.
to be much more Miss Fellowes names the boy Timmy and forms a
Short story; Genre: human than anyone deep bond with the child. Timmy is very ugly but Connections:
Science fiction thought. intelligent - he eventually learns how to speak
and write. Timmy can never leave his stasis ● Shanidar 1
chamber because doing so would cause a huge ● Should we try to
amount of energy to be absorbed from the world bring back
around him. Dr. Hoskins decides to send the boy Neanderthals/
back to the past to make room for more people Extinct species?
and items in the stasis chamber. Miss Fellowes
tries to stop him and when she is unsuccessful,
she travels back in time with Timmy.

Story Summary Notes

"The Ugly Little Boy" is a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov. It
tells the tale of a paleontologist named Dr. Susan Calvin, who works for ________________________________________
a company called US Robots and Mechanical Men. The story is set in the
future, where time travel is possible. ________________________________________

The company has developed a technology called "chronoscopy," which ________________________________________

enables people to observe and interact with individuals from the past.
They have discovered a way to bring a Neanderthal child from the past ________________________________________
to the present for research purposes. The child, named Timmie, is taken
care of by a nurse named Marianne. ________________________________________

Timmie is a misfit in the modern world due to his physical appearance ________________________________________
and behavior, leading to him being called the "Ugly Little Boy." However,
Marianne develops a deep bond with him and takes it upon herself to ________________________________________
ensure his well-being.
________________________________________
As time goes on, Marianne notices that Timmie is not thriving in the
modern environment. He becomes increasingly withdrawn and refuses ________________________________________
to eat. Dr. Calvin deduces that Timmie is pining for his own time and
family. ________________________________________

To alleviate Timmie's distress, Dr. Calvin and Marianne come up with a ________________________________________
plan to bring Timmie's mother from the past using the time travel
technology. Timmie's mother arrives, and they have a touching reunion. ________________________________________
However, they soon realize that Timmie's mother cannot remain in the
present, as she cannot survive due to the changes in the atmosphere ________________________________________
and environment.
________________________________________
Marianne, who has grown to love Timmie as her own child, makes the
difficult decision to go back with Timmie's mother to the past. As they ________________________________________
depart, Dr. Calvin reflects on the bittersweet nature of their mission and
the unique connection that had formed between Timmie, Marianne, ________________________________________
and himself.
________________________________________
"The Ugly Little Boy" explores themes of compassion, the complexities
of human connection, and the impact of time and technology on ________________________________________
individuals from different eras.

Review Questions:

 Who is the protagonist of the story?

 What company does the protagonist work for, and what is their technological breakthrough?

 What is the name of the Neanderthal child brought from the past?

 How does Timmie's physical appearance and behavior affect his interaction with the modern
world?

 Who takes care of Timmie and develops a strong bond with him?

 Why does Timmie's condition deteriorate over time?

 What solution do Dr. Calvin and Marianne come up with to help Timmie?

 What happens when Timmie's mother arrives in the present?

 What challenges do they face when Timmie's mother cannot stay in the present?

 What decision does Marianne make, and what does it signify about her relationship with
Timmie?

 What themes does the story explore?

 How does the story examine the impact of time and technology on human connections?
 The Difference Set in 1855 during The excerpt included in the curriculum features This is considered an
Engine [excerpt] the Industrial Sybil Gerard and Mick Radley. Sybil is a important “steampunk”
Revolution; in the prostitute and they have been sleeping together. novel that sparked a lot of
William Gibson and novel, technology Mick reveals that he knows her true identity and interest in the genre.
Bruce Sterling advances faster than asks her to come with him to Paris. Sybil is the
1990, Genre: it really did daughter of Walter Gerard, a Luddite “agitator”
Steampunk historically and the (troublemaker) who was hanged for his views. Connection: The Luddites,
computer age starts The Luddites were a group of textile (fabric) Artificial Intelligence,
early. workers who fought against the introduction of Alternative History
new technology by destroying factory machinery.

Story Summary Notes

"The Difference Engine" is a science fiction novel written by William
Gibson and Bruce Sterling. Set in an alternative Victorian era, the story ________________________________________
revolves around the concept of an early form of mechanical computer
known as the "Difference Engine." ________________________________________

The novel imagines a world where Charles Babbage successfully built ________________________________________
and perfected his invention, the Difference Engine. This advanced
machine is capable of performing complex calculations and processing ________________________________________
information, revolutionizing the field of computation in the 19th
century. The story takes place in an alternate 1855 London, where this ________________________________________
technology has transformed society and culture.
________________________________________
The narrative follows several interconnected characters, including the
unconventional genius and paleontologist Edward Mallory, the ________________________________________
adventurous and resourceful Sybil Gerard, and the powerful and
enigmatic Prime Minister Lord Byron. As these characters navigate the ________________________________________
intricate web of political intrigue, scientific exploration, and social
unrest, they become entangled in a conspiracy that threatens the ________________________________________
stability of the British Empire.
________________________________________
The story delves into various themes such as the impact of technology
on society, the tension between individual freedom and governmental ________________________________________
control, and the blurred boundaries between humans and machines. It
explores the implications of the Difference Engine's existence on the ________________________________________
power dynamics of the era, the emergence of new social classes, and
the potential for both liberation and oppression. ________________________________________

Throughout the novel, the authors paint a vivid picture of a Victorian ________________________________________
era that never was, blending historical elements with imaginative
speculation. "The Difference Engine" offers readers a unique glimpse ________________________________________
into a world where the technological advancements of the past have
shaped an alternate future, creating a captivating and thought- ________________________________________
provoking narrative.
________________________________________
At the very end of the novel is a depiction of an alternate 1991 from the
vantage point of a computer, which is revealed to be the narrator as it ________________________________________
achieves self-awareness.

Review Questions:

 What is the central technological invention in the story, and how does it impact society?

 Who are the main characters in the novel, and what roles do they play in the narrative?

 How does the alternative Victorian era portrayed in the story differ from actual history?

 What themes does the novel explore regarding the impact of technology on society and power
dynamics?

 What is the conspiracy that threatens the stability of the British Empire, and how do the
characters become involved?

 How does the novel address the tension between individual freedom and governmental control?

 What social classes emerge as a result of the technological advancements depicted in the story?

 How does the relationship between humans and machines blur in the narrative?

 In what ways does "The Difference Engine" blend historical elements with imaginative
speculation?

 How does the novel challenge or question our understanding of the Victorian era and its
potential for technological progress?
 All the Seas of the Nadia and Rafel prepare to A fantasy novel loosely Guy Gavriel Kay was included in last
World assassinate someone. inspired by history and year’s curriculum, too. He helped
set in the “near- Christopher Tolkien finish The
[Exerpt] Renaissance.” Silmarillion.
Guy Gavriel Kay, 2022 Overall book summary: [Summary of excerpt]: He takes a unique approach of
Novel (historically All the Seas of the World is a 2022 Nadia, Rafel, and combining elements of history and
inspired fantasy) fantasy novel by Guy Gavriel Kay. Ghazzali al-Siyab land fantasy. He tries to "to tell the stories of
It is the third book in a loose on the coast near the people whose stories tended not to be
trilogy that includes A Brightness city of Abeneven. They told."
Long Ago and Children of Earth have been hired to
Other works include The Lion of Al-
and Sky. The book is set in a world assassinate an Rassan, Under Heaven, River of Stars,
that is similar to the important person
there. Nadia was once and Ysabel.
Mediterranean during the
Renaissance. The story follows kidnapped and Note: There are three main religions in
two main characters, Rafel and enslaved, but later this book and there are often conflicts
Nadia, who are hired by a pair of escaped and joined and cultural differences between the
brothers to assassinate the Khalif Rafel on the high seas. people who follow them. The Jaddites
of Abeneven. The book explores Rafel is a worship the sun, the Asharites worship
themes of love, loss, and revenge. merchant/pirate with the stars, and the Kindath worship the
his own ship; he might moon. They are loosely analogous to
Rafel is a merchant who has been have two sons, but Christians, Muslims, and Jews.
hired to assassinate the Khalif of Nadia doesn’t know
Abeneven. He is joined by Nadia, much else about him.
a former slave who is now a
skilled assassin. The two of them
set out on a journey across the
Mediterranean, where they
encounter a variety of people and
cultures. Along the way, they
must learn to trust each other if
they are to succeed in their
mission.

Excerpt Notes
CHAPTER I

The memory of home can be too far away, in time, in distance across the vastness of
________________________________________
the earth, or of the sea.
________________________________________
It can fade or blur for us as the years pass. And there is often pain in that, too. In their
dreams some travel back to remembered voices, sounds, scents, images. But many do
not dream, or not of the place they came from. Too much loss, too old and hard a ________________________________________
sorrow. And some who have such dreams forget them in the morning’s light where
they find themselves. That can be a blessing. ________________________________________
There will be others who cannot forget. Who wrap themselves in memories as in a
heavy cloak. They will walk a street in a far city at twilight and hear a stringed ________________________________________
instrument down a laneway, and it takes them back. They might decide to go up that
lane, towards where a spill of light suggests a tavern, or perhaps someone’s home with
a courtyard where music is being offered at day’s end. ________________________________________

Most often they do not. They do not do that. Perhaps it isn’t, as they listen, the ________________________________________
remembered instrument from their childhood. Nor the tune of a song their mother sang
to them at bedtime after prayers. There are no orange blossoms here. No oleanders,
mimosas, no jacaranda trees with blue-purple flowers. There might be fountains in this ________________________________________
distant city, but not like the ones remembered from that time before they were forced
to go away, uprooted like a tree torn from its earth.
________________________________________
For someone else, their memories, or the dreams pushed away at sunrise, might be
very different, but just as hard. From a time, say, before they were stolen as a child ________________________________________
from a place with other sorts of trees and flowers, but home.

There are many different ways for a home to be lost, and for the world to become ________________________________________
defined by that loss.
________________________________________

There are also many different ways into a tale. ________________________________________

Whose voice, whose life will start it off ? (Whose death?) Where are we when the ship
of our story moves from shore towards open water, past rocks that need careful ________________________________________
navigating? Or, where are we when someone does decide to walk up a darkening
laneway towards the pull of music, and listens at an open doorway? And finds… ________________________________________
These things matter for the reader or the listener—and so for the teller. They matter,
whether it is being written down on a creamy parchment bought in a canal-side ________________________________________
bookshop in Seressa, to be set in type and printed and bound one day, or if it is being
told to a smaller or larger crowd in the storytellers’ quarter by the marketplace of some ________________________________________
city, between the morning and the midday summoning to prayer.

There are women and men here, ready to step forward into what light we have. There ________________________________________
are others circling them, with affection or malice (or doubt as to which of these will
prevail). We might even go back, start with people expelled from their beloved
Esperaña. Or to a girl taken by raiders from her family home far to the east of that
land. Or to the man who— ________________________________________
But see. Look now. Even as we speak of these things, as we consider the differences
shaped by choosing one opening note or another to play, there is a ship in the night,
________________________________________
sailing without lights along a coast, the last lantern just now doused by order of the
captain. ________________________________________
They are laying into a shallow bay on the long coast of the Majriti. Not far from the
city of Abeneven, but it should be far enough. They are alone here, under stars and the ________________________________________
white moon, before the rising of the other one. Being unseen is imperative for what
they are here to do. ________________________________________
It seems as good a place as any to begin. The night sea, this bay, stars, moon,
remembered music. We will act as if this is so. We will not set out to sea, after all. We ________________________________________
will lower a small boat and send it ashore, instead, to a stony beach. Three men, one
woman, a light breeze, spring night. Men waiting for them on that strand.
________________________________________
***
Nadia watched as Ghazzali al-Siyab rode off with those who had met them, as Rafel ________________________________________
had arranged. Rafel was good at these things; she had learned that in three years.

Al-Siyab would head south for two days, then turn east, avoiding villages, and after ________________________________________
two more days, on camels by that point, start back north, to enter Abeneven through
the landward gates. ________________________________________
He was arrogant, young, too aware of how handsome he was, but he’d come to them
specifically for this undertaking, and he was greedy and ambitious—which was good
________________________________________
for their purposes. He was to be paid only when they were done. He wasn’t going to
run off. It was possible he’d betray them, but unlikely. ________________________________________
Neither she nor Rafel knew al-Siyab, but the men who had hired them had also hired
him for this, and if you trusted no one you couldn’t do very much in the world, and ________________________________________
they were doing something significant now, or hoping to.
________________________________________
Well, yes. Assassinations did tend to be significant, she thought, amusing herself. She
didn’t laugh (she didn’t laugh much) but she smiled in the dark.
________________________________________
She was glad to be ashore. She’d spent a great deal of time at sea since killing
someone herself and escaping, but she was happier on land. It was simply a truth. She
had been born inland, well away from the coast. That ought to have offered protection
________________________________________
against what had happened to her.
________________________________________
You didn’t necessarily live your life in the ways that made you happiest, of course.
She hadn’t been happy killing Dhiyan ibn Anash, but it had occurred to her that she’d
been a slave for longer than she’d been free, and that had come to seem… ________________________________________
unacceptable. A kind man who had bought you at a slave market and had taught you
skill with words and numbers, then had you trained with weapons to guard him, was
still a man who owned you and made you do things he wanted done, whenever he
wanted that. ________________________________________

Really, what did happiness have to do with anything? Rafel might propose an answer. ________________________________________
He had an answer for most such questions, had read a great deal. Sometimes (not
always) she thought what he said was wise. He could make her smile sometimes.
________________________________________
He also annoyed her, drove her nearly mad at other times, but they worked well
together, had done so since he had accepted her on board the Silver Wake and hidden ________________________________________
her. A real risk for him, and she’d known it. She’d acted as a guard, gradually took on
other roles. She did know numbers, though he was better with them. But she was
useful for certain things: Jaddite-born, and so better for some tasks on the northern ________________________________________
side of the Middle Sea where they worshipped the sun god. She was a partner now,
with a share in the ship and their profits. Small at first, it had grown, because she was
even more clever than she was good with knives, and Rafel ben Natan of the Kindath ________________________________________
was the sort of man who could see that, even in a woman. That wasn’t a thing she
would ever forget. ________________________________________
They had survived, made some money with the Silver Wake. They traded along both
coasts, north and south. Rafel was an occasional emissary of the khalif of the city of ________________________________________
Almassar in the far west, at the gateway to the wide, wilder sea. The Kindath often
played that sort of role among the Asharites. They were trusted, in part because they ________________________________________
had few paths to success beyond trade and diplomacy. Well, perhaps piracy, in their
case licensed by that same khalif, who urgently needed money and claimed a share of
whatever they took in raids. ________________________________________
Whether you called yourself a corsair or a merchant or a smuggler or an emissary, or
moved back and forth between all of these as opportunities arose, you could do well ________________________________________
enough if you were shrewd (and fortunate) along this part of the Middle Sea, with the
Majriti coastline to the south and Esperaña or Ferrieres north. ________________________________________
Not Batiara, however, not for her. She had made that clear from the start. If Rafel
proposed going there for any reason, she’d disembark somewhere first. They could ________________________________________
pick her up on their way back. It had happened twice.
________________________________________
After so long a time there was no going home for her, Nadia had decided.

There was no home to go back to. Only memories and the dead. There was no her to ________________________________________
go back, she’d told Rafel once when he’d asked about Batiara. He asked many
questions, answered only few about himself. He’d started a reply, she remembered, a ________________________________________
disagreement, of course—about needing to put the past behind you, build your life
forward—but he’d stopped himself. He was not an insensitive man, and had losses of
his own, she knew. She wondered if he’d done it himself: put the past behind him. She ________________________________________
didn’t ask.
________________________________________
So they’d raided and traded, sometimes using the small ports and bays that were
havens for corsairs, and for smugglers avoiding customs officers and duties. They
sailed into larger city harbours when they had legal goods to trade. They had people on
both coastlines with whom they banked some of their profits. Rafel looked after that, ________________________________________
using his Kindath brethren or a Seressini bank. She let him do this for her, as well.

Other than the khalif of Almassar, who provided them with some protection, they’d ________________________________________
kept a careful distance from major figures who could be dangerous.

Until now. Until this task, this night landing. Because two of those major figures had
________________________________________
found them, and had made a proposition one evening back in Almassar. She had
dressed as a man for that encounter. It was unlikely anyone in Almassar would ________________________________________
recognize an escaped slave girl in a woman from a merchant ship, but better to be
safer when you could. Rafel was always saying that.
________________________________________
They might, he had said when they were alone again after that meeting at someone’s
home (they never knew whose), be able to just about retire on what they’d earn from ________________________________________
this. No longer live on the sea. Or become entirely respectable merchants if they
wanted, no piracy. He among the Kindath, she wherever she wished, back in Jaddite
lands. She could get married. Let others brave the wind and waters for them, he’d said. ________________________________________
Or she could let him buy out her share of the Wake, pursue whatever path she wanted
in the world.
________________________________________
He had been staked to the ship by Almassar’s khalif and some older Kindath
merchants originally, but over years he’d made enough to buy it from them. It was his ________________________________________
ship now, and she was the one staked to a part-owner’s share, and expanding it with
their profits. She wasn’t far from having a quarter share after three years.
________________________________________
It was a life. It was not a home. There was no home, but she was free.
________________________________________
“Is that what you’d do?” she’d asked. “Stay ashore?” She’d ignored the part about her
marrying.
________________________________________
He’d shrugged. She hadn’t expected a reply.

He was a few years older than her, had two sons, it was said. Maybe three. No one was
________________________________________
certain as to Rafel ben Natan’s life. He sent money to Sillina, the Kindath quarter
outside the walls of Almassar. His parents were there, she knew that much. It was ________________________________________
remarkable to her that she didn’t even know if he had a wife. But a discreet man was
more likely to be a trustworthy partner. And Rafel was discreet, and clever. So was
she. He knew it, to be fair. ________________________________________

One of the three men who had come to the beach with her was now rowing the small ________________________________________
boat back to the ship alone. Al-Siyab had gone inland. The remaining man would join
her, riding on the mules that had been brought for them, heading to Abeneven.
________________________________________
She disguised herself in the moonlit night, soft red wool cap, over-tunic, hooded cloak,
Muwardi mouth veil. Her hair was short and tucked under the cap. She was wearing
leather boots. She had bound her breasts before leaving the ship. She was slim-hipped,
________________________________________
and tall for a woman. They’d be joining the main road along the coast before daylight,
and it was better to be disguised ahead of the need for it.
________________________________________
With her smooth cheeks, she could pass for a boy on the edge of manhood. She’d done
it before.
________________________________________
What would follow in Abeneven, if all went as planned, they had never done.
 ________________________________________
But she didn’t mind killing Asharites.

*** ________________________________________
Watching from the railing, Rafel lost sight of the small boat before it reached shore.
He wasn’t worried. It was good that the night was dark. He worried about many ________________________________________
things, it was his nature, but not, as it happened, about Nadia. Or at least not as to her
getting to the strand, dividing the party as planned, and making her way into
Abeneven. ________________________________________
When the boat returned and was made fast again, he ordered Elie to weigh anchor and
lay a course to the east. No point lingering, some slight danger in doing so. (Why was ________________________________________
a trading ship at anchor here? Were they smuggling something on or off ? Were they
worth raiding?) Without being told, Elie had the lamps lit again. He knew this coast ________________________________________
better than Rafel, who knew it well. They kept a respectful distance from the rocky
shoreline as they went.
________________________________________
The lights were lit because they were not hiding. The Silver Wake was a merchant
vessel, based in Almassar, headed for Abeneven to trade in that city, and perhaps
conduct some diplomatic affairs for the city’s khalif. The ship’s owner, the well-
known Kindath merchant Rafel ben Natan, would call at the palace, as usual, with
gifts. It was what they did.

It was what they did. Mostly.

Reading Questions (some of these are quite hard and can be skipped):

 How does the setting of the book contribute to the story?

 What are the themes of the book?
 How do the characters develop over the course of the story?
 What is the significance of the title?
 What is the message of the book?
 Here are some more specific questions that you could ask about the characters:
 What are Rafel's motivations for assassinating the Khalif?
 How does Nadia's past as a slave affect her relationship with Rafel?
 What is the relationship between Rafel and Nadia?
 What are the challenges that Rafel and Nadia face in their journey?
 How do Rafel and Nadia overcome these challenges?
 “A Dog has Died” Neruda remembers his dog Pablo Neruda was included in last year’s curriculum, too. He
who has died. He felt that was a very famous poet from Chile (considered the national
Pablo Neruda the dog was an honest poet). He died shortly after Augusto Pinochet came to power
1973 (one of the last friend, although he was not through a military coup.
poems before his death) very affectionate.

Genre: Poetry

Poem Notes
“A Dog Has Died”
BY PABLO NERUDA ________________________________________
TRANSLATED BY ALFRED YANKAUER
My dog has died. ________________________________________
I buried him in the garden
next to a rusted old machine. ________________________________________

Some day I'll join him right there, ________________________________________

but now he's gone with his shaggy coat,
his bad manners and his cold nose, ________________________________________
and I, the materialist, who never believed
in any promised heaven in the sky ________________________________________
for any human being,
I believe in a heaven I'll never enter. ________________________________________
Yes, I believe in a heaven for all dogdom
where my dog waits for my arrival ________________________________________
waving his fan-like tail in friendship.
________________________________________
Ai, I'll not speak of sadness here on earth,
of having lost a companion ________________________________________
who was never servile.
His friendship for me, like that of a porcupine ________________________________________
withholding its authority,
was the friendship of a star, aloof, ________________________________________
with no more intimacy than was called for,
with no exaggerations: ________________________________________
he never climbed all over my clothes
filling me full of his hair or his mange, ________________________________________
he never rubbed up against my knee
like other dogs obsessed with sex. ________________________________________

No, my dog used to gaze at me, ________________________________________

paying me the attention I need,
the attention required ________________________________________
to make a vain person like me understand
that, being a dog, he was wasting time, ________________________________________
but, with those eyes so much purer than mine,
he'd keep on gazing at me ________________________________________
with a look that reserved for me alone
all his sweet and shaggy life, ________________________________________
always near me, never troubling me,
and asking nothing. ________________________________________

Ai, how many times have I envied his tail ________________________________________

as we walked together on the shores of the sea
in the lonely winter of Isla Negra ________________________________________
where the wintering birds filled the sky
and my hairy dog was jumping about ________________________________________
full of the voltage of the sea's movement:
my wandering dog, sniffing away ________________________________________
with his golden tail held high,
face to face with the ocean's spray. ________________________________________

Joyful, joyful, joyful, ________________________________________

as only dogs know how to be happy
with only the autonomy ________________________________________
of their shameless spirit.
________________________________________
There are no good-byes for my dog who has died,
and we don't now and never did lie to each other. ________________________________________

So now he's gone and I buried him,

and that's all there is to it.

Reading Questions

 What is the central theme of "A Dog Has Died" by Pablo Neruda, and how does the poet explore
this theme throughout the poem?

 How does Neruda's use of imagery and language contribute to the emotional impact of the
poem?
“Dodo” The poet compares The poet feels like he can relate to the Connection: De-extinction section:
himself to the dodo dodo, an extinct bird that looked odd Scientists have sequenced the dodo’s
Henry Carlile, 1975 bird. and was disliked and mistreated. DNA and may try to bring it back with
Genre: Poetry People used to call the narrator a the help of the DNA from the Nicobar
dodo and he feels underappreciated pigeon.
and something of an outcast like the
bird probably was.
The poem has a thoughtful,
melancholy (sad) tone.

Poem Notes

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

Reading Questions

 What is the central theme or message conveyed in the poem "Dodo" by Henry Carlile?
 Explore the poet's use of imagery and language in the poem. How do these literary devices
enhance the reader's understanding or emotional response to the subject matter?
 Reflect on the tone of the poem. Does it convey a sense of sadness, nostalgia, or something
else? What specific words or phrases contribute to this tone?
“The Dodo” A humorous rhyming Full poem: Connection: De-extinction section
poem about the
Hilaire Beloc, 1896 dodo bird and the The Dodo used to walk around,
Genre: Poetry fact that it is extinct. And take the sun and air. Much more humorous tone than the
other dodo poem
The sun yet warms his native ground
—
The Dodo is not there! Notice that the Beloc is kind of
making Carlile’s point for him – he is
mocking the dodo and it’s extinction
The voice which used to squawk and is humorous to him.
squeak
Is now forever dumb—
Yet may you see his bones and beak
All in the Mu-se-um

For Notes:

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

Reading Questions

 Describe the tone of the poem. How does the poet's use of language and imagery contribute to
the overall tone?
 Analyze the structure and rhyme scheme of the poem. How does the poet's use of poetic form
enhance the meaning or effect of the poem?
 Explore the poem's depiction of extinction. What is the poet trying to convey about the dodo's
disappearance from the world?
“Brazilian Children play Children are playing with batteries after reading about an experiment in a book. They have attached
Telephone” with electrodes to one child, who is standing in a bath of salt water, and they connect the ends of the wires
electricity. to the battery terminals. Basically, they are using their friend to build a circuit. We don’t find out if the
Miriam Bird
friend is badly hurt or not.
Greenberg, 2010,
Genre: Poetry

Poem Notes
Brazilian Telephone
BY M I R I A M B I R D G R E E N B E R G
In the peach orchard in an old bathtub
________________________________________
the children are standing someone
in a bath of salt water, and one ________________________________________
gently attaches electrodes
to the nipples of the one
in the bath. Out of the weeds runs one ________________________________________
with a rescued battery from the old
motor home, which they had gotten ________________________________________
to rev its engine like the sad bleating
of a goat. If, later, anyone asks
how they learned to do this, in a striped shirt one ________________________________________
will say, Oh, I was looking for science
experiments in those old textbooks someone ________________________________________
got from the library book sale last year.
I have been baking all day,
and in a few minutes will start to wonder ________________________________________
what happened to that box of coarse kosher salt
I got just last week.
________________________________________
The children are all singing
some ditty from a musical
we saw at the community theater ________________________________________
a few days ago, and, in the tub the one
with electrodes affixed so gently
to his chest is calling
________________________________________
out little mews of uncertainty,
is calling and calling into the sundown ________________________________________
past the knotted trees with their hairy
fruits, green and hard. Hush,
hush, don’t worry, another one ________________________________________
is saying, fingernail following a line of text
in a complicated book. I think this one ________________________________________
is called the Brazilian Telephone, one
says, connecting finally,
after all this build-up, the ends of two ________________________________________
wires to the battery terminals
which, with steel wool stolen from the kitchen, ________________________________________
they had cleaned so carefully
earlier in the day.
Reading Questions

1. Describe the setting and atmosphere created in the poem "Brazilian Telephone" by Miriam Bird
Greenberg. How does it contribute to the overall tone or mood of the poem?
2. Discuss the poem's exploration of communication and connection. How does the poet depict these
themes through the metaphor of the telephone and the interactions between characters?
3. Reflect on the underlying emotions or conflicts present in the poem. What do they reveal about the
characters' relationships or experiences? How do they add depth or complexity to the poem?
“The Municipal Describes the poet’s The narrator describes a visit to the W.B. Yeats was one of the greatest
Gallery Revisited” visit to an art gallery. Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane poets of the 20th century; Irish; won
(then called the Municipal Gallery of the Nobel prize in literature
W.B. Yeats, 1937, Modern Art). He talks about the
Poetry paintings at the gallery, the events and Summary
people they represent, and the artists,
many of whom had a major impact on
Irish culture and history.

Poem Notes
“The Municipal Gallery Revisited” by W. B. Yeats
__________________________________________________
I.
AROUND me the images of thirty years: An ambush; pilgrims at the
water-side; Casement upon trial, half hidden by the bars, Guarded; __________________________________________________
Griffith staring in hysterical pride; Kevin O’Higgins’ countenance that
wears A gentle questioning look that cannot hide A soul incapable of __________________________________________________
remorse or rest; A revolutionary soldier kneeling to be blessed;

II. __________________________________________________
An Abbot or Archbishop with an upraised hand Blessing the Tricolour.
‘This is not,’ I say, ‘The dead Ireland of my youth, but an Ireland The __________________________________________________
poets have imagined, terrible and gay.’ Before a woman’s portrait
suddenly I stand, Beautiful and gentle in her Venetian way. I met her all
but fifty years ago For twenty minutes in some studio. __________________________________________________

III. __________________________________________________
Heart-smitten with emotion I Sink down, My heart recovering with
covered eyes; Wherever I had looked I had looked upon My permanent
or impermanent images: Augusta Gregory’s son; her sister’s son, Hugh
__________________________________________________
Lane, ‘onlie begetter’ of all these; Hazel Lavery living and dying, that tale
As though some ballad-singer had sung it all; __________________________________________________

IV. __________________________________________________
Mancini’s portrait of Augusta Gregory, ‘Greatest since Rembrandt,’
according to John Synge; A great ebullient portrait certainly; But where is
the brush that could show anything Of all that pride and that humility? __________________________________________________
And I am in despair that time may bring Approved patterns of women or
of men But not that selfsame excellence again. __________________________________________________
V.
My mediaeval knees lack health until they bend, But in that woman, in __________________________________________________
that household where Honour had lived so long, all lacking found.
Childless I thought, ‘My children may find here Deep-rooted things,’ but __________________________________________________
never foresaw its end, And now that end has come I have not wept; No
fox can foul the lair the badger swept —
__________________________________________________
VI.
(An image out of Spenser and the common tongue). John Synge, I and __________________________________________________
Augusta Gregory, thought All that we did, all that we said or sang Must
come from contact with the soil, from that Contact everything Antaeus-
like grew strong. We three alone in modern times had brought Everything
__________________________________________________
down to that sole test again, Dream of the noble and the beggar-man. VII
And here’s John Synge himself, that rooted man, ‘Forgetting human __________________________________________________
words,’ a grave deep face. You that would judge me, do not judge alone
This book or that, come to this hallowed place Where my friends’ __________________________________________________
portraits hang and look thereon; Ireland’s history in their lineaments
trace; Think where man’s glory most begins and ends, And say my glory
was I had such friends. __________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

Further information about Yeats and the poem: W.B. Yeats is widely considered to be one of the greatest poets of the 20th century. In
literary and academic circles his reputation precedes him so I’ll keep the introductory formalities brief. Although he won many awards
throughout his long and illustrious career, his most prestigious recognition came in 1923 when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in the
Literature. He was the first Irishman to be honored. The committee praised his work as “inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form
gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation.”
With Saint Patrick’s Day on the horizon, it’s fitting that we remember the contributions of the Emerald Isle’s foremost poet. In the
particular poem, “The Municipal Gallery Revisited,” the narrator recalls a visit to the Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, at the time
known as the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, where he remarks on the faces and legacies painted on the walls. While the particular
figures to whom this eulogy is addressed have their own important place in Irish history that may be too long, too nuanced, too political,
or too important to condense and tell here, the sentiment towards the end of the ballad resonates most.
When I think of this poem, I’m reminded of an old friend, who recently sent me the final lines of this poem in a message—
Think where man’s glory most begins and ends, And say my glory was I had such friends.
As Yeats revisits old friends and old memories, he is “heart-smitten with emotion.” And, although I can’t say with certainty what inspired
the sentimental message from my, it struck me with a wave of nostalgia and coincidental gratitude—smitten. I cannot divine Yeats
intentions in writing these final lines, but I can relate them to personal experience—it can be rewarding to revisit in memories old friends
from our own lives and in visiting, be thankful.

Reading Questions

 What is the central theme of "The Municipal Gallery Revisited"?

 In what year was the poem published, and in which collection?

 Where does the speaker find himself in the poem?

 What do the paintings and sculptures in the Municipal Gallery depict?

 How does the speaker feel about the passing of time and the transitory nature of fame?
 “On Shakespeare was The narrator says that Shakespeare Written in 1630 for the preface of the
Shakespeare” awesome. doesn’t need a fancy tomb because second folio of Shakespeare’s
his writings and their effect on the complete works.
John Milton, reader are the best possible
1630, Poetry monument to his life.
(epitaph)

Poem Notes
On Shakespeare. 1630
BY JOHN MILTON __________________________________________________
What needs my Shakespeare for his honoured bones,
The labor of an age in pilèd stones,
Or that his hallowed relics should be hid __________________________________________________
Under a star-ypointing pyramid?
Dear son of Memory, great heir of fame, __________________________________________________
What need’st thou such weak witness of thy name?
Thou in our wonder and astonishment
Hast built thyself a live-long monument. __________________________________________________
For whilst to th’ shame of slow-endeavouring art,
Thy easy numbers flow, and that each heart __________________________________________________
Hath from the leaves of thy unvalued book
Those Delphic lines with deep impression took,
Then thou, our fancy of itself bereaving, __________________________________________________
Dost make us marble with too much conceiving;
And so sepúlchred in such pomp dost lie, __________________________________________________
That kings for such a tomb would wish to die.
__________________________________________________

Reading Questions

 What is the title of the poem and who is it dedicated to?

 How does Milton describe Shakespeare's talent and genius in the poem?

 What phrase does Milton use to refer to Shakespeare in the poem?

 What aspect of Shakespeare's works does Milton highlight in relation to their impact on audiences?

 In what way does Milton emphasize the timeless nature of Shakespeare's works?
 “At the Tomb A visit to the tomb of The narrator visits the Napoleon’s grave Ingersol recorded the essay using the
of Napoleon” Napoleon; Napoleon and reflects on “the career of the new technology of voice recording.
was basically a greatest soldier of the modern world.”
Robert G. murderer. He thinks about Napoleon’s many
Ingersoll, Essay battles and campaigns, his exile, and all https://redtreetimes.com/
1882 the people he hurt, and he decides that 2021/02/22/ingersoll-and-napoleon/
he would rather be a poor peasant who
is happy but forgotten when he dies
than a “great” and well-remembered
man like Napoleon who killed so many
people.

Essay Notes
“A little while ago, I stood by the grave of the old Napoleon—a magnificent
tomb of gilt and gold, fit almost for a dead deity—and gazed upon the __________________________________________________
sarcophagus of rare and nameless marble, where rest at last the ashes of
that restless man. I leaned over the balustrade and thought about the
career of the greatest soldier of the modern world. __________________________________________________

I saw him walking upon the banks of the Seine, contemplating suicide. I saw __________________________________________________
him at Toulon—I saw him putting down the mob in the streets of Paris—I
saw him at the head of the army of Italy—I saw him crossing the bridge of
Lodi with the tri-color in his hand—I saw him in Egypt in the shadows of the __________________________________________________
pyramids—I saw him conquer the Alps and mingle the eagles of France with
the eagles of the crags. I saw him at Marengo—at Ulm and Austerlitz. I saw __________________________________________________
him in Russia, where the infantry of the snow and the cavalry of the wild
blast scattered his legions like winter's withered leaves. I saw him at Leipsic
in defeat and disaster—driven by a million bayonets back upon Paris— __________________________________________________
clutched like a wild beast—banished to Elba. I saw him escape and retake
an empire by the force of his genius. I saw him upon the frightful field of __________________________________________________
Waterloo, where Chance and Fate combined to wreck the fortunes of their
former king. And I saw him at St. Helena, with his hands crossed behind
him, gazing out upon the sad and solemn sea.
__________________________________________________

I thought of the orphans and widows he had made—of the tears that had __________________________________________________
been shed for his glory, and of the only woman who ever loved him, pushed
from his heart by the cold hand of ambition. And I said I would rather have __________________________________________________
been a French peasant and worn wooden shoes. I would rather have lived
in a hut with a vine growing over the door, and the grapes growing purple in
the kisses of the autumn sun. I would rather have been that poor peasant __________________________________________________
with my loving wife by my side, knitting as the day died out of the sky—with
my children upon my knees and their arms about me—I would rather have __________________________________________________
been that man and gone down to the tongueless silence of the dreamless
dust, than to have been that imperial impersonation of force and murder,
known as 'Napoleon the Great.”
Reading Questions

 How does the author speak of Napoleon?

 What insight does this essay offer into Napoleon’s legacy?
 Does this writing offer a different perspective than the one you have been accustomed to?
“In Kyoto” Expresses the poet’s This is the whole poem: Basho (1644–1694) was a Japanese
sense of longing and poet and master of the haiku. He also
Basho (translated deep attachment for created a new poetic form, the
by Jane Hirshfield), Kyoto (even though haibun.
17th century, In Kyoto,
he’s already there)
Poetry (Haiku) hearing the cuckoo, “His work, rooted in observation of the
natural world as well as in historical and
I long for Kyoto. literary concerns, engages themes of
stillness and movement in a voice that is
by turns self-questioning, wry, and
(forms a Haiku in Japanese) oracular.” - Poetryfoundation.org

For Notes:

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

Reading Questions

 What is a Haiku?

 What sentiment/feeling does this poem hope to express?

 “A Brief History A poem of The poet tells about Toa Payoh’s past - swamp, Toa Payoh is a section of
of Toa Payoh” appreciation for early settlers, then busy town. Now it is being Singapore that was once a
Toa Payoh (place renovated again and a lot of old buildings are swamp and home to squatters
Koh Buck Song, in Singapore) and being destroyed. Singapore is growing so quickly until 1965, when the
1992, Poetry its history that even renovated areas are soon renovated government developed it. It
again. An important argument in this poem is was notorious for crime for a
that Toa Payoh deserves to have its history long time.
remembered just as much as other parts of
Singapore.

Poem Notes
A Brief History of Toa Payoh
__________________________________________________
they say
there is no history
made in Toa Payoh, __________________________________________________
that Economy, Polity, State
are major tenants __________________________________________________
in Significance's estate

but this being, __________________________________________________

whose amniotic fluids,
swamp and swill, __________________________________________________
were channelled seaward
through monsoon drains,
instant rivers, __________________________________________________
was once a brave new world
of giant pigeonholes sky looking, __________________________________________________
rigid under morning sun,
a pioneer in its time,
so should not earliness and vision
__________________________________________________
receive, as in Sentosa’s museum,
decorum, grace __________________________________________________
and privilege of place?
__________________________________________________
the pride and self-sufficiency
of early settlers
eclipsed: __________________________________________________
town centre, bus terminal, the first SEAP Games,
the emporium’s sacks of fragrant rice, __________________________________________________
children’s playgrounds, the garden’s lake and town,
the Queen’s lookout
excite no more __________________________________________________
and the children of Toa Payoh
are the mothers and fathers __________________________________________________
of Woodlands, Pasir Ris,
distant orbits of the new satellites
this town delivered so fast, __________________________________________________
labour pains
now claim a second strike: __________________________________________________
this time, cranes and the wrecker’s ball
strip the old town
colonise once more
__________________________________________________
this, one of Modernisation’s
first ports of call __________________________________________________
in our History's eye,
growth is so swift __________________________________________________
rebirth also
gets short shrift __________________________________________________
by Koh Buck Song
from A Brief History of Toa Payoh and Other Poems (1992) __________________________________________________

Reading Questions:

 What is the change that the town is experiencing and how does that relate to the main idea of the poem?

 What is the author’s tone and how is Toa Payoh described?

 “Kubla Khan” This poem This poem describes the beauty and wild Coleridge was a VERY famous English
describes the strangeness of the Mongol ruler Kublai poet.
Samuel Taylor beauty and wild Khan’s palace in Xanadu, China. It is a
Coleridge, 1797 strangeness of giant dome surrounded by gardens, near He described this poem as a
(published the Mongol ruler a river that runs into a vast cavern. The “psychological curiosity.” He supposedly
1816), Poem Kublai Khan’s poet says he will also build a beautiful took a dose of opium and then took a
palace in Xanadu, dome through song. nap, then the poem came to him in a
China. dream. He wrote it down when he woke
Themes: pleasure and violence, creativity up, but was interrupted and couldn’t
remember all of it.
Tone: dream-like, strange, beautiful
This site has helpful annotation of the
Some suggest that the poem is an poem and discussion of themes:
extended metaphor for the creativity of https://www.litcharts.com/poetry/samuel
the human mind. -coleridge/kubla-khan

Poem Notes
Kubla Khan
BY SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE __________________________________________________
Or, a vision in a dream. A Fragment.

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan __________________________________________________

A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran __________________________________________________
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
So twice five miles of fertile ground __________________________________________________
With walls and towers were girdled round;
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills, __________________________________________________
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery. __________________________________________________

But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted __________________________________________________

Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!
A savage place! as holy and enchanted
As e’er beneath a waning moon was haunted
__________________________________________________
By woman wailing for her demon-lover!
And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething, __________________________________________________
As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,
A mighty fountain momently was forced: __________________________________________________
Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst
Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,
Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher’s flail: __________________________________________________
And mid these dancing rocks at once and ever
It flung up momently the sacred river. __________________________________________________
Five miles meandering with a mazy motion
Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,
Then reached the caverns measureless to man, __________________________________________________
And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean;
And ’mid this tumult Kubla heard from far __________________________________________________
Ancestral voices prophesying war!
The shadow of the dome of pleasure
 Floated midway on the waves; __________________________________________________
Where was heard the mingled measure
From the fountain and the caves.
It was a miracle of rare device, __________________________________________________
A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!
__________________________________________________
A damsel with a dulcimer
In a vision once I saw:
It was an Abyssinian maid
__________________________________________________
And on her dulcimer she played,
Singing of Mount Abora. __________________________________________________
Could I revive within me
Her symphony and song, __________________________________________________
To such a deep delight ’twould win me,
That with music loud and long,
I would build that dome in air, __________________________________________________
That sunny dome! those caves of ice!
And all who heard should see them there, __________________________________________________
And all should cry, Beware! Beware!
His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
Weave a circle round him thrice, __________________________________________________
And close your eyes with holy dread
For he on honey-dew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise.

Reading Questions

 How would you describe the overall tone or mood of the poem?

 What is the setting or location described in the poem?

 What are some of the fantastical or surreal elements present in the poem?

 Who is Kubla Khan, and what is his significance in the poem?

“The Czar's Former Tsar Nicholas II Tsar Nicholas II was the last Russian Tsar (ruler - also spelled Csar). He was
Last Christmasis under house arrest removed from leadership by the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 and later
Letter”: A Barn
with his family after brutally killed along with his whole family in 1918. This poem is written
in the Urals being deposed by the from the perspective of Nicholas after he was deposed but before he was
Russian Revolution. He murdered. In the poem, he writes a letter to his mother describing a
Norman Dubie, writes a final letter to simpler life with his family as they live under house arrest in the Ural
1983, Poem his mother. mountains. He tells of pleasant memories of his old courtier Ilya, then
describes his family’s current situation. He tells his mother that “it is
comfortable / Now that I am no longer Czar. I can take pleasure / From just
a cup of clear water.” He and his wife, Alexandra, teach their children at
home; their love is being re-kindled; and the guards flirt with his
daughters. He knows the guards are keeping the letters his mother writes
him. He reflects a little on death, knowing that he and his family may soon
be killed.

Poem Notes
The Czar's Last Christmas Letter: A Barn in the Urals

You were never told, Mother, how old Illya was drunk ________________________________________
That last holiday, for five days and nights

He stumbled through Petersburg forming

________________________________________
A choir of mutes, he dressed them in pink ascension gowns
________________________________________
And, then, sold Father's Tirietz stallion so to rent
A hall for his Christmas recital: the audience
________________________________________
Was rowdy but Illya in his black robes turned on them
And gave them that look of his; the hall fell silent
________________________________________
And violently he threw his hair to the side and up
Went the baton, the recital ended exactly one hour
________________________________________
Later when Illya suddenly turned and bowed
And his mutes bowed, and what applause and hollering ________________________________________
Followed.
All of his cronies were there! ________________________________________
Illya told us later that he thought the voices
Of mutes combine in a sound ________________________________________
Like wind passing through big, winter pines.
Mother, if for no other reason I regret the war
________________________________________

With Japan for, you must now be told, ________________________________________

It took the servant, Illya, from us. It was confirmed.

He would sit on the rocks by the water and with his stiletto ________________________________________
Open clams and pop the raw meats into his mouth

And drool and laugh at us children. ________________________________________

We hear guns often, now, down near the village.

Don't think me a coward, Mother, but it is comfortable

________________________________________
Now that I am no longer Czar. I can take pleasure
________________________________________
From just a cup of clear water. I hear Illya's choir often.
I teach the children about decreasing fractions, that is
 ________________________________________
A lesson best taught by the father.
Alexandra conducts the French and singing lessons.
________________________________________
Mother, we are again a physical couple.
I brush out her hair for her at night.
________________________________________
She thinks that we'll be rowing outside Geneva
By the spring. I hope she won't be disappointed.
________________________________________
Yesterday morning while bread was frying
In one corner, she in another washed all of her legs ________________________________________
Right in front of the children. I think
We became sad at her beauty. She has a purple bruise ________________________________________
On an ankle.
Like Illya I made her chew on mint. ________________________________________
Our Christmas will be in this excellent barn.
The guards flirt with your granddaughters and I see... ________________________________________

I see nothing wrong with it. Your little one, who is ________________________________________
Now a woman, made one soldier pose for her, she did

Him in charcoal, but as a bold nude. He was ________________________________________

Such an obvious virgin about it; he was wonderful!

Today, that same young man found us an enormous azure ________________________________________

And pearl samovar. Once, he called me Great Father

And got confused. ________________________________________

He refused to let me touch him.
________________________________________
I know they keep your letters from us. But, Mother,
The day they finally put them in my hands
________________________________________
I'll know that possessing them I am condemned
And possibly even my wife, and my children.
________________________________________
We will drink mint tea this evening.
Will each of us be increased by death?
________________________________________
With fractions as the bottom integer gets bigger, Mother, it
Represents less. That's the feeling I have about
________________________________________
This letter. I am at your request, The Czar.
And I am Nicholas.

Difficult Reading Questions!

 How does the behavior of Illya and the chaotic recital reflect the turmoil and instability of the time in
which the poem is set?
 Discuss the significance of Nicholas's dual identity as both the czar and an individual named Nicholas. How
does this duality shape his perspective and internal conflict?
 Analyze the symbolism of the barn as the setting for their Christmas celebration. What does it represent in
terms of their social and political downfall?
 Consider the role of the soldiers and guards in the poem. How do their interactions with Nicholas's family
reflect the shifting dynamics and power structures in Russian society?
For Notes:

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Journalism Questions

1) No one ever had an "exclusive" with Napoleon; the very concept of the interview had to be invented first. Read about its
surprisingly short history—the idea of reporters asking people a series of probing questions only became common in the
late 1800s—then discuss with your team: would news coverage be better without them? Press conferences, too, are a
recent development—research where and how they started, and how they have changed over time.

2) Records suggest that India's first newspaper was Hicky's Bengal Gazette, published in the 1780s—but that was, at best,
the first in the English mold. Bylines were a byproduct of colonialism; indeed, one of South Africa's earliest newspapers was
unironically called The Colonist. But global cultures and civilizations have long found other ways to inform the public of
important developments, from the bulletin board to the town crier. Research other ways that news spread in different areas
of the world before the arrival of Western-style journalism, then discuss with your team: what can we learn from these
methods, and are some of them alive and well today on the Internet?
3) Historians draw on newspaper and other records of this kind to construct their story of the past. But the nature of
journalism—what is being communicated, to whom, and in what formats—has changed over the years. Discuss with your
team: will today's approaches to journalism make it easier for people in the future to understand who we were and why we
made the choices we did?

4) Some journalists are themselves in the business of reconstructing the past—often the recent past, at their own peril, even
as others are doing their best to hide it. Work with your team to investigate the origins of investigative reporting and some
of its most famous success stories, from Watergate to Weinstein, then discuss with your team: what would you set out to
investigate in this way if you could? Are there times when investigate reporting might be too risky—or harmful to the public
interest?