V6C - 13-12-2021 - Les 34

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 6

WELCOME

Today is the 13th of December

The Word of the Day is ostracize
verb | AH-struh-syze

"to exclude from a group by common consent"

The senator knew he might be ostracized by his party, but he voted with his heart.

TODAY

After this lesson you will

• ... have studied The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

PART II

... "Ah wretch! said they, the bird to slay" ...

... "Twas right, said they, such birds to slay" ...

... "Water, water, every where" ...

... "Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs" ...

PART II

... Instead of the cross, the Albatross ...

... About my neck was hung ....

PART II

1. After blaming the Mariner at first for what he has doen, the crew later agree that it was right to kill the bird. What, morally speaking, is the consequence of this opinion?
2. In Part I the Mariner describes how they drift into an area where there are neither human beings nor animals. The first creature they emet is the Albatross, which is killed. What is his reaction when he sees animal of the sea?

PART III

1. About the ghost-ship are Death and Life-in-Death. They are playing at dice, and Life-in-Death wins the Mariner. What consequences does this result have in the rest of the story?
   

PART IV

PART IV

I fear thee, ancient Mariner!

This body dropped not down.

I watched the water-snakes

And I blessed them unaware

PART IV

1. When all the members of the crew have 'dropped down one by one' (l.129), the Mariner is the only human being left alive. The only other living creatures are the 'slimy things' (l.148). When he tries to pray he finds his heart as dry as dust (l.157). Could there be a connection?

PART IV

2. The water-snakes are mentioned again in lines 183 and following, but now the Mariner's attitude towards them has changed. Explain.

3. Lines 192-197 form a turning-point in the poem. Why?

PART IV

4. The significance of the events described here is underlined by the last stanza, in which the Albatross suddenly falls off the Mariner's neck. Discuss the symbolism.

1. The wedding in progress, and all the guests sharing in the joy and happiness, form a suitable contrast to the Mariner himself. Work out.

2. A lady who had just read the Ancient Mariner once told Coleridge that she thought there was too little of a moral in it, to which Coleridge replied that, on the contrary, he thought there was too much. What, if any, is the moral of the poem?