----- Original Message ----- From: Danny and Esther Behar and Family - behar123@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: Ivory Towers Did you have to answer the next question, 'which Higher Order Thinking Skill enabled you to answer this question? Fortunately, a list is included at the back of the exam. shabbat shalom, Esther Behar Chezi wrote: >I have just completed the on-line course on the incorporation of HOTS in >the Literature program. >In the program, we were asked to answer a sample exam question on a poem chosen for the Literature program: Arlington's Richard Cory. Below, I am posting my answer to the exam question for your perusal: >Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869-1935) is an American poet best known for his poems about the characters of Tilbury Town, a small, bleak Maine town like the one where Robinson grew up. His characters suffer the 'cruelties of life '" (Shalvi, A. (Ed.). 1982, EMT Reader. University Publishing Projects: Israel) >How does this information add to your understanding of Richard Cory? Give examples from the poem. >My answer to the Exam Question on Richard Cory .The information provided to me above was very helpful in deepening my understanding of the poem. >As an average Israeli student, I am well aware from the dates provided >above (and the date of the poem) that we are talking about the late Victorian early Edwardian era and that this period corresponds with the height of the Industrial Revolution. Since I am a product of the excellent Israeli education system, I am also aware that during the Industrial Revolution social classes were starkly defined and difficult to escape. The information about Tilbury being a small bleak town in Main, immediately conjured up in my mind vivid images of the tortured lives of industrial workers there. (I don't have to tell you that I can easily find Maine on the map.) Since I am aware from my broad general knowledge that living in a small American town at that time involves a smothering sense of solidarity of the downtrodden, I now understand why the speaker keeps using the first person plural, "we", throughout the poem. I know that Americans have no Royalty but that, paradoxically, they have their kings and these capitalistic tycoons are perhaps even richer and more powerful than 'ordinary' kings. This knowledge enabled me to understand why Arlington describes Richard Cory in regal terms: for example, Richard Cory is a gentleman from sole to crown, or that he was imperially slim or that he glittered when he walked. (I hope I don't have to tell you that I know that very many kings in Anglo-Saxon history went by the name of Richard.) And finally, I would like to thank my English teacher my geography teacher and my history teacher and compliment the examiner/s for his/her/their excellent exam question which is excellent proof that he or they don't reside in the proverbial ivory tower. Chezi Fine ----------------------------------------------- ** Etni homepage - http://www.etni.org or - http://www.etni.org.il ** ** for help - ask@xxxxxxxx ** ** to post to this list - etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ** -----------------------------------------------