The Triple Pillar of the World Transformed into a Strumpets Fool Essays

The Triple Pillar of the World Transformed into a Strumpets Fool Essays The Triple Pillar of the World Transformed into a Strumpets Fool Paper The Triple Pillar of the World Transformed into a Strumpets Fool Paper Essay Topic: Literature Shakespeares chief source for Antony and Cleopatra was Plutarchs Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romanes translated by Thomas North (1579). Plutarch largely portrayed Mark Antony as a vain and dissolute character, juxtaposed against the heroism and virtues of his compatriots. Shakespeare plays down these attributes for more dramatic effect, choosing to make Antony a more complex, three-dimensional, and ultimately flawed character. Antony could be said to be the object of focus throughout the whole play, as his time on stage is spent always in the middle, and while his presence is absent, he is constantly the subject of conversation. Through this we are able to make our own judgements of whether Antony becomes his flow, or whether we agree with Cleopatras description of him as a Herculean Roman. Cleopatra humiliates Antony in front of Demetrius, Philo, Charmian, Iris, eunuchs and Cleopatras ladies by scalding Antony with her harsh words: Thou blushest, Antony, and that blood of thine is Caesars homager. The domestic arguing in the presence of those of lower status is somewhat embarrassing for a Herculean Roman, and transforms Antony into a strumpets fool. In addition to this, Antony surrenders to Cleopatra: Let Rome in Tiber melt and the wide arch of the ranged empire fall! Antony is defeated by Cleopatra, which demonstrates him as weak, and clearly expresses no intentions of returning to his duty, and therefore encourages the audience to see him as a strumpets fool. As Antony is a frequent source of conversation, different characters opinions of him become apparent and are influential to the audience. For example, Scarus refers to him as a Noble ruin that claps on his sea wing, and like a doting mallard, leaving the fight in height, flies after her, which suggests Antony considers his sexual engagements to be priority over his role of a world ruler. Scarus is a follower of Antonys, meaning that he is likely to make such remarks out of concern or pure observation, rather than out of disapproval, therefore increases the probability that it is true. Through Caesars complaints that Antony fishes, drinks, and wastes the lamps of night in a revel-is not more manlike than Cleopatra, nor the Queen of Ptolemy more womanly than he, we can gather from a Roman point of view, Antony is not favoured in his reputation, and the insulting language used about Antonys behaviour implies that Antony is foolish. The Herculean Roman image is also insulted here, by being compared as not more manlike than Cleopatra, which leaves no element in defence of Antony. Pompey, who is further away at most, shows his awareness that Antony is not performing as he should perhaps: I know they are in Rome together, looking for Antony The fact that Pompey assumes that the whereabouts of Antony is not known indicates to the audience that Antony is a hindrance when serious matters like war arise, and cannot be found when he is needed. Antonys lasting pride throughout the play, contributes to the foolish title, by ignoring wise and practical advise from Enobarbus: Your ships are not well manned. Your mariners are muleteers, reapers, people engrossed by swift impress No disgrace shall fall you for refusing him at sea, being prepared for land. In this situation Antony fulfils the image of a strumpets fool, as he knows his skills lie fighting on land, but his pride leads him to accept the challenge by sea, only to lose to Caesar. Cleopatra talks about Antony as if he were her prey and she his predator: My bended hook shall pierce their slimy jaws and as I draw them up, Ill think them every one an Antony, and say Ah, ha! Yare caught! This imagery of Antony as a defenceless fish mocks him in front of the audience, and creates the sense that Cleopatra is totally in control over him. This is continued through the way Cleopatra tells the tales of her times with Antony: I laughed him out of patience, and that night I laughed him into patience I drunk him to his bed Whilst I wave his sword Philippan Cleopatra is constantly the active part in her speech, which suggests that everything is done for Antony, as he is the indirect object in each case. Shakespeare cleverly displays Antonys many attempts to attract Cleopatras attention: I am sorry to give breathing to my purpose- Now, my dearest Queen- The Gods best know- Cleopatra- Most sweet Queen- How now lady! Hear me, Queen. Here Antony is put up against Cleopatra, and we as the audience see him dominated, or rather ignored by her majesty, which from an observing eye would seem as if he were inferior or unable to be heard. This situation would be quite ridiculous, for the triple pillar of the world to be granted so little respect, therefore making him a laughing stock, and a strumpets fool. Compared to Caesar, Antony appears to be always behind and considerably slower in his actions, and this can be seen through a number of areas. Firstly, when making preparations to go to war, Antony is amazed to discover that Caesar has taken Toryne, thinks Tis impossible and strange that his power should be. Secondly, when Antony finally arrives in Rome on the brink of war, he reveals his ignorance of the situation by asking Caesar the following information about Pompey: Where lies he? About the Mount Misena What is his strength? By land, great and increasing; but by sea he is an absolute master. Thirdly, we learn from the text that Caesar has even been with Cleopatra before Antony: A certain Queen to Caesar in a mattress. From this information Antonys manhood is damaged, as the impression is felt, that Antony has Caesars leftovers, illustrating him as once again a strumpets fool. Certainly the historical view of Antony would have been of a man potentially virtuous, but ultimately seduced by the charms and wiles of Cleopatra, thus the strumpets fool. This is probably the way Plutarch would have him painted. But it could also be argued that, by portraying Antony in such complex and contradictory terms Shakespeare ensures that he sustains a nobility throughout the play. Certainly to the audience of the day the apparent paradox of this man would have appeared intriguing and attractive. The fact that several of the leading characters sustain their loyalty to Antony throughout goes to uphold this view. For example, Eros is asked by Antony to carry out his sworn duty to kill his master after the debacle of the failed military campaign. Eros, however, commits suicide rather than fulfil his duty out of loyalty to Antony, an act that would serve to ennoble him to an Elizabethan audience. Also Antonys relationship with Enobartus, although ultimately tragic, reflects the latters deep respect for his nobility. When Enobartus realises that Antony has lost all reason in embarking on the final battle, he is forced to leave his friend and leader: Now hell outstare the lightning. To be furious Is to be frightened out of fear, and in that mood The dove will peck the estridge The fact that Enobartus later dies of grief for the failure of it all would have generated a huge amount of sympathy from the audience. To conclude, the view that Mark Antony is a triple pillar of the world transformed into a Strumpets fool is only a partly accurate view. The Marcus Antonius of Plutarchs works may well be just that, but Shakespeare evolves the character into a much more tragic and human persona, ultimately ennobled by the loyalty of his fr iends and servants.

STAR Early Literacy

STAR Early Literacy STAR Early Literacy is an online adaptive assessment program developed by Renaissance Learning for students typically in grades PK-3. The program uses a series of questions to assess a student’s early literacy and early numeracy skills through a simple process. The program is designed to support teachers with individual student data quickly and accurately. It typically takes a student 10-15 minutes to complete an assessment and reports are available immediately upon completion. There are four parts to the assessment. The first part is a short demonstrative tutorial that teaches the student how to use the system. The second part is a short practice component designed to ensure that the students understand how to manipulate the mouse or use the keyboard correctly to answer each question. The third part consists of a short set of practice questions to prepare the student for the actual assessment. The final part is the actual assessment. It consists of twenty-nine early literacy and early numeracy questions. Students have one and a half minutes to answer each question before the program automatically moves them to the next question. Easy to Set up and Use STAR Early Literacy is a Renaissance Learning program. This is important because if you have Accelerated Reader, Accelerated Math, or any of the other STAR assessments, you only have to do the set up one time. Adding students and building classes is quick and easy. You can add a class of about twenty students and have them ready to be assessed in about 15 minutes. Designed Well for Students to Use The interface is straightforward. Each question is read by a narrator. While the narrator is reading the question, the mouse pointer turns into an ear directing the student to listen. After the question is read, a â€Å"ding† tone indicates that the student may then select their response. The student has two choices in the way that they select their response. They can use their mouse and click on the correct choice or they can you the 1, 2, or 3 keys that correlate to the correct answer. Students are locked into their answer if they use their mouse, but they are not locked into their answer if they use the 1, 2, 3 select methods until they hit enter. This can be a problem for younger students that have not been exposed to manipulating a computer mouse or using a keyboard. In the top right-hand corner of the screen, there is a box that the student can click to have the narrator repeat the question at any time. In addition, the question is repeated every fifteen seconds of inactivity until time runs out. Each question is given  on a one and a half minute timer. When a student has fifteen seconds remaining a small clock will begin to flash at the top of the screen letting them know that time is about to expire for that question. A Good Tool for Teachers STAR Early Literacy assesses forty-one skill sets in ten essential literacy and numeracy domains. The ten domains include alphabetic principle, the concept of word, visual discrimination, phonemic awareness, phonics, structural analysis, vocabulary, sentence level comprehension, paragraph level comprehension, and early numeracy. The program also allows teachers to set goals and monitor a student’s progress as they move throughout the year. It allows them to create an individualized instructional path to building on skills they are proficient in and improve upon their individual skills in which they need intervention. Teachers are also able to use STAR Early Literacy throughout the year quickly and accurately to decide whether they need to change their approach with a particular student or continue doing what they are doing. STAR Early Literacy has an extensive assessment bank that allows students to be assessed multiple times without seeing the same question. Reports STAR Early Literacy is designed to provide teachers with useful information that will drive their instructional practices. STAR Early Literacy provides teachers with several useful reports designed to assist in targeting which students need intervention and what areas they need assistance in. Here are six key reports available through STAR Early Literacy and a brief explanation of each: Diagnostic - Student: The student diagnostic report provides the most information about an individual student. It offers information such as the student’s scaled score, literacy classification, sub-domain scores, and individual skill set scores on a scale of 0-100.Diagnostic – Class: The class diagnostic report provides information related to the class as a whole. It shows how the class as a whole performed in each of the forty-one assessed skills. Teachers can use this report to drive whole class instruction to cover concepts in which the majority of the class shows they need intervention.Growth: This report shows the growth of a group of students over a specific period of time. This period of time is customizable from a few weeks to months, to even growth over the course of several years.Instructional Planning - Class: This report provides teachers with a list of recommended skills to drive the whole class or small group instruction. This report also allows you to gro up students into four ability groups and provides suggestions for meeting each group’s specific learning needs. Instructional Planning - Student: This report provides teachers with a list of recommended skills and suggestions to drive individualized instruction.Parent Report: This report provides teachers with an informational report to give to parents. This letter provides details about each student’s progress. It also provides instructional suggestions that parents can do at home with their child to improve their scores. Relevant Terminology Scaled Score (SS): The scaled score is figured based on the difficulty of the questions as well of the number of questions that were correct. STAR Early Literacy uses a scale range of 0-900. This score can be used to compare students to each other, as well as themselves, over time.Early Emergent Reader: Scaled score of 300-487. Student has a beginning understanding that printed text has meaning. They have a rudimentary understanding that reading involves letters, words, and sentences. They also are beginning to identify numbers, letters, shapes, and colors.Late Emergent Reader: Scaled score of 488-674. Student knows most letters and letter sounds. They are expanding their vocabulary, listening skills, and knowledge of print. They are starting to read picture books and familiar words.Transitional Reader: Scaled score of 675-774. Student has mastered alphabet and letter sound skills. Can identify beginning and ending sounds as well vowel sounds. They likely have the ability to blend so unds and read basic words. They can use context clues such as pictures to figure out words. Probable Reader: Scaled score of 775-900. Student is becoming skilled at recognizing words at a faster rate. They also are beginning to understand what they are reading. They blend sounds and word parts to read words and sentences. The Bottom Line STAR Early Literacy is a respectable early literacy and early numeracy assessment program. Its best features are that it is quick and easy to use, and reports can be generated in seconds. A key issue with this program is that for younger students who lack mouse skills or computer skills, the scores may be negatively skewed. However, this is an issue with virtually any computer-based program at this age. Overall, we give this program 4 out of 5 stars because the program provides teachers with a solid tool to identify early literacy and early numeracy skills that require intervention.