Losen World Literature 2010-2011

 

 
Book IX

Which army, “trained to fight on horseback,” were offended when Odysseus’ men got drunk and butchered their sheep and cattle? In response, they “unfleshed” Odysseus’ men.

What are the giant “louts” whose land is “unplanted and untilled, a wilderness, who live without a law to bless them”?

Which character / host does not adhere to the rules of the guest-host relationship? What is his name?

How does Odysseus trick this character? What does he do to him?

How is Odysseus able to (along with the remaining men) escape this giant?

What name does Odysseus give to this dangerous character?

What happens when Odysseus reveals his identity?

Book X

Know the island and who lives there (at the beginning).

What gift does he give to Odysseus?

What do the men do with this “gift”? What motivates them to do so?

What does the gift-giver say about giving him a replacement gift? Why will he not do it?

Who are the Laistrygonians?

Who is Artakía?

What happens to some of Odysseus’ men after their encounter with Artakía?

What is the name of the island upon which Kirkê resides?

Describe the island and explain why this is a warning. Compare to the island of the Kyklopes.

Odysseus orders his men to break up into two groups. Who does he choose as the leader of the expedition?

What strange, unnatural, and supernatural things do the men find when they get to their destination?

Which character suggests that they should enter the dwelling?

How does Kirkê treat the men once they enter? Give specifics.

After treating them kindly, what does she do to them?

Which named character did not enter because his intuition told him not to?

When that character gets back to inform Odysseus, how does that character react when Odysseus says that Odysseus will lead the next expedition to Kirkê’s house?

Which god helps Odysseus in this endeavor?

What does the god give to Odysseus?

What does the god instruct Odysseus to do (beyond the molü)?

What weapon does Odysseus bring with him?

What happens the men after Odysseus has beguiled the charming Kirkê?

How long does Odysseus remain with Kirkê?

Who tells Odysseus that he must return home?

Before he goes Kirkê tells Odysseus that he must visit the underworld. What animal sacrifices must they make first?

Which famous seer will Odysseus seek once he is there?

What happened to Elpênor?

Book XI

What kinds of libations does Odysseus prepare once he has arrived in “the realm and region of the Men of Winter”?

To which famous goddess must Odysseus make sacrifices?

Who is the first “shade” that they see?

What does this once-human, former shipmate, ask of Odysseus?

Which relative does Odysseus discover here, has died? How did she die?

What prophecy does Tiresias give?

Note that Odysseus also encounters Oedipus and Jocasta.

Who is Lêda?

Who is Ariadnê?

What does Agamemnon reveal?

What does Agamemnon say about the “intrigues of women”? What does he say about Helen? What advise does Agamemnon give about how one should regard or treat a woman?

What does Agamemnon say about Penelope? How does he later contradict himself?

What is said of/by Akhilleus?

Know about Orion, Tityos, Tántalos, Sísphos, and Herakles.

Book XII—Sea Perils and Defeat

What happens to the recently-fallen comrade’s body? How does Odysseus show honor?

Know about the Seirênês.

Know about Amphitritê.

Know about the Symplegades.

Know about Skylla and Kharybdis.

Know what will happen on Thrinákia—who lives there, and which animals no one must touch.

What does Odysseus do to save himself from the Seirênês?

How are his men saved from the fate normally wrought when one listens to the Seirênês?

What is the choice Odysseus has to make when they encounter Skylla and Kharybdis? Which one does he take?

What does Eurýlokhos say?

Why do the men start to starve? What events cause this?

Who is Lampetía?

What sin do Odysseus men commit?

What are the consequences?

Where does Odysseus end up at the end of Book XII?

Book XIII

What does Alkínoos offer and give to Odysseus?

What price do the Phiákians pay for helping Odysseus?

Athena intervenes early in the story, arriving in what human form?

Into what form does Athena change later?

Note her criticism of Odysseus: “’Always the same detachment! That is why / I cannot fail you, in your evil fortune, / cool-headed, quick, well-spoken as you are! / Would not another wandering man, in joy, / make haste home to his wife and children? Not / you, not yet’” (387-392).

What does Athena say about Odysseus’ wife?

 
Canto XXIV (24):

Who is Vanni Fucci?

How does he feel about being recognized by Dante?

Note the arduous nature of this canto. It is real physical labor.

How are the sinners punished here?

Note the reference to the myth of the Phoenix of Arabia. Know about the myth as referenced in the footnotes.

Which sin is punished in this canto?

Vanni Fucci reveals something to Dante at the end. What is his motivation for revealing this knowledge?

CANTO XXVI (26)--Bolgia Eight--the Evil Counselors

Besides giving bad advice, what makes theirs in so grievous?

How are the sinners punished? Why?

Glib: adj. easy and confident in speech, with little thought or sincerity.

Know about Ulysses and Diomede and their sins. They are also guilty of wanderlust.

Know how they are punished.

Know about Dante's fictionalized account of Odysseus' end.

There is also a little racism.

Odysseus or Ulysses is also guilty of adultery. With whom?

Canto XXXII (32)
Circle Nine: Cocytus--Compound Fraud
Round one: Caina (Treacherous to Kin)
Round Two: Antenora--the Treacherous to Country

You are responsible for all these names.

How are the sinners punished?

What is the name of the character that Dante kicks?

Pay attention to how Dante and this guy get into a fight.

Why does the guy not want to tell Dante his name?

Canto XXXIII (33)

Know the sins here.

Who is Count Ugolino?

Who is Archbishop Ruggieri?

Where are they located in the scheme of things?

What is one sinner doing to the other?

Which one died by starvation? How did that come about? Who died with him?

Who was Ptolomaeus of Maccabees? Of what crime was he guilty?

Who is Friar Alberigo?

Who is Branca D'Oria?

How are these two punished?

What is their sin?

Dante notices a cold breeze. What is the cause of that breeze?

What is very different about the sinners that reside here? It is something that makes it stand apart from every other canto.

Canto XXXIV (34)

Know the sin here. Know the name of the place.

Know about Satan. Know what he looks like. Know who he consumes.

Know how the sinners in the outer rims are punished.

Know how Dante and Virgil get out of the Inferno.


 
Canto XVI--Circle Seven: Round Three--the Violent Against Nature and Art

How is Dante recognized by "the three stooges"--Jacopo Rusticucci, Guido Guerra, and Tegghiaiao Aldobrandi?

What does Virgil do at the end?

Note the transitional sentence at the beginning of this canto. For your Infernos, you will need transitional sentences at the beginning and at the end of the cantos.

"We could already hear the rumbling drive / of the waterfall in its plunge to the next circle, / a murmur like the throbbing of a hive, / when three shades turned together on the plain, / breaking toward us from accompany / that went its way to torture in that rain" (1-6).

How does Virgil tell Dante to treat these sinners?

Note the following description and the simile.

"As naked and anointed champions do / in feeling out their grasp and their advantage / before they close in for the thrust or blow--/ so circling, each one stared up at my height, / and as their feet moved left around the circle, / their necks kept turning backward to the right" (22-27).

Again, the sinners suffer the anxiety of not being remembered:

"'Therefore, if you win through this gloomy pass/ and climb again to see the heaven of stars; / when it rejoices you to say "I was," / speak of us to the living.' They parted then, / breaking their turning wheel, and as they vanished / over the plain, their legs seemed wings" (83-87).

Look at the end of this canto in its amazing descriptive and transitional nature. Think again of Yeats' poem, "The Second Coming" and the "rough beast."

"Reader, I swear / by the lines of my Comedy--so may it live--/ that I saw swimming up through that foul air / a shape to astonish the most doughty soul, / a shape like one returning through the sea / from working loose an anchor run afoul / of something on the bottom--so it rose, / its arms spread upward and its feet drawn close" (127-134).

Note the wonderful swimming motion--only it is swimming through air!

Canto XVII--Circle Seven: Round Three--the Violent Against Art and Geryon

Geryon is the monster of what particular vice?

It's not usury. By the way, how are the usurers punished?

Again, note the descriptive and transitional method of the opening. Note too the classical mythological allusions:

"'Now see the sharp-tailed beast that mounts the brink. / He passes mountains, breaks through walls and weapons. / Behold the beast that makes the whole world stink.' / These were the words my Master spoke to me; / then signaled the weird beast to come to the ground / close to the sheer end of our rocky levee. / The filthy prototype of Fraud drew near / and settled his head and breast upon the edge / of the dark cliff, but let his tail hang clear. / His face was innocent of every guile, / benign and just in feature and expression; / and under it his body was half reptile. / His two great paws were hairy to the armpits; / all his back and breast and both his flanks / were figured with bright knots and subtle circlets: / never was such a tapestry of bloom / woven on earth by Tartar or by Turk,/ nor by Arachne at her flowering loom. / As a ferry sometimes lies along the strand, / part beached and part afloat; and as the beaver, / up yonder in the guzzling Germans' land, / squats halfway up the bank when a fight is on--/ just so lay that most ravenous of beasts/ on the rim which bounds the burning sand with stone. / His tail twitched in the void beyond that lip, / thrashing, and twisting up the envenomed fork / which, like a scorpion's stinger, armed the tip" (1-27).

How are these sinners adorned?

"He half-arose, / twisted his mouth, and darted out his tongue / for all the world like an ox licking its nose" (67-69).

Note how frightening the following passage is and how it characterizes both narrator and guide:

"Returned, I found my Guide already mounted / upon the rump of that monstrosity. / He said to me: 'Now must you be undaunted: / this beast must be our stairway to the pit: / mount it in front, and I will ride between / you and the tail, lest you be poisoned by it.' / Like one so close to the quaternary chill / that his nails are already pale and his flesh trembles / at he very sight of shade or a cool rill--/ so did I tremble at each frightful word. / But his scolding filled me with that shame that makes / the servant brave in the presence of his lord. / I mounted the great shoulders of that freak / and tried to say 'Now help me to hold on!' / But my voice clicked in my throat and I could not speak" (73-87).

Again, note the wonderful description--using a simile. Note too the rhythms of the language, which make you feel as though you are actually riding the beast with them:

"As a small ship slides from a beaching on its pier, / backward, backward--so that monster slipped / back from the rim. And when he had drawn clear / he swung about, and stretching out his tail / he worked it like an eel, and with his paws/ he gathered in the air, while I turned pale" (94-99).

Note the reference to Icarus and Phaethon. Read the footnotes and know those stories. Both characters are famous "over-reachers."

Again, note where Yeats took from this particular canto for "The Second Coming":

"Slowly, slowly, he swims on through space, / wheels and descends, but I can sense it only / by the way the wind blows upward past my face. / Already on the right I heard the swell / and thunder of the whirlpool. Looking down / I leaned my head out and stared into Hell. / I trembled again at the prospect of dismounting / and cowered in on myself, for I saw fires / on every hand, and I heard a long lamenting. / And then I saw--till then I had but felt it--/ the course of our down-spiral to the horrors / that rose to us from all sides of the pit. / As a flight-worn falcon sinks down wearily / though neither bird nor lure has signaled it, / the falconer crying out: ' What! spent already!'--/ then turns and in a hundred spinning gyres / sulks from her master's call, sullen and proud--/ so to that bottom lit by endless fires / the monster Geryon circled and fell, / setting us down at the foot of the precipice / of ragged rock on the eighth shelf of Hell. / And once freed of our weight, he shot from there / in the dark like an arrow into air" (109-131).

Canto XVIII (18): Circle Eight (Malebolge) The Fraudulent and Malicious
Bolgia One: The Panderers and Seducers
Bolgia Two: The Flatterers

Know what Malebolge means.

Know how the various sinners are punished in this realm.

Know the difference between panderers and seducers.

“Just so the Romans, because of the great throng / in the year of the Jubilee, divide the bridge / in order that the crowds may pass along, / so that all face the castle as they go / on one side toward St. Peter’s, while on the other, / all move along facing toward Mount Giordano” (29-33). Your textbooks mention that Dante’s arch-enemy, Boniface VIII had declared 1300 a Jubilee year. Thousands of pilgrims had come to Rome.

Who is Venedico Caccianemico and why is he there?  

Why is Jason there? Know these stories. See the footnotes.

Note the characterization through movement and dialogue:

"And everywhere along that hideous track / I saw horned demons with enormous lashes / move through those souls, scourging them on the back. / Ah, how the stragglers of that long rout stirred / their legs quick-march at the first crack of the lash! / Certainly no one waited a second, or third! / As we went on, one face in that procession / caught my eye and I said: 'That sinner there: / It is certainly not the first time I've seen that one.' / I stopped, therefore, to study him, and my Guide / out of his kindness waited, and even allowed me / to walk back a few steps at the sinner's side. / And that flayed spirit, seeing me turn around / thought to hide his face, but I called to him: / 'You there, that walk along with your eyes on the ground--/ if those are not false features, then I know you / as Venedico Caccianemico of Bologna: / what brings you here among this pretty crew?'" (34-51).

"And he replied: 'I speak unwillingly, / but something in your living voice, in which / I hear the world again, stirs and compels me'" (52-54).

Canto XIX: Simoniacs—Sellers of Ecclesiastic Favors and Offices

In the Middle Ages, the church and the government were one and the same. If you wanted to get ahead, you did so only through the church. It did not matter whether you were a teacher, a barber, a brewer, a shoemaker, a lawyer, or a bishop.

Simoniacs sold ecclesiastic favors--perhaps indulgences, but also, as put down in your books, political offices or other goodies.

People in positions of power are supposed to lead but they are also supposed to serve and they are supposed to serve our best interests.

Now add to that yet another moral component.  Stealing violates one of the Ten Commandments—“Thou Shall Not Steal.” To award a position of power to someone who does not deserve it is to steal that position from one that does. In addition, stealing is stealing, period. One certainly does not steal from the poor unfortunates.

Not only that, but in this case, we have the Church, the symbol of moral righteousness or rectitude, and it is pandering to rich people and taking from the poor for the gain of a few powerful individuals. This is not exactly a good role model. And yet, it's as real today as it was then. We just call them lobbyists and politicians instead of Simoniacs.

Know how the Simoniacs are punished and why. Know what I mean by symbolic retribution.

Know about Extreme Unction (Last Rites for the dying).

Know about Pope Nicholas III.

Some great descriptions:

"I saw along the walls and on the ground / long rows of holes cut in the livid stone; / all were cut to a size, and all were round" (13-15).

"They seemed to be exactly the same size / as those in the font of my beautiful San Giovanni, / built to protect the priests who come to baptize; / one of which, not so long since, I broke open to rescue a boy who was drowning in it" (16-20).

"From every mouth a sinner's legs stuck out / as far as the calf. The soles were all ablaze / and the joints of the legs quivered and writhed about. / Withes and tethers would have snapped in their throes. / As oiled things blaze upon the surface only, so did they burn from the heels to the points of their toes" (22-29).

Dialogue:

"'Master,' I said, 'who is that one in the fire / who writhes and quivers more than all the others? / From him the ruddy flames seem to leap higher. / And he to me: 'If you wish me to carry you down / along that lower bank, you may learn from him / who he is and the evil he has done.' / And I: ' What you will, I will. You are my lord and know i depart in nothing from your wish; / and you know my mind beyond my spoken word'" (28-36).

"We moved to the fourth ridge, and turning left / my Guide descended by a jagged path / into the strait and perforated cleft. / Thus the good Master bore me down the dim / and rocky slope, and did not put me down / till we reached the one whose legs did penance for him. / 'Whoever you are, sad spirit,' I began, 'who lie here with your head below your heels / and planted like a stake--speak if you can.' I stood like a friar who gives the sacrament / to a hired assassin, who, fixed in the hole, /recalls him, and delays his death a moment" (37-48).

Note the anger in the following dialogue:

"'Are you there already, Boniface*? Are you there / already?' he cried. 'by several years the writ / has lied. And all that gold, and all that care--/ are you already sated with the treasure / for which you dared to turn on the Sweet Lady / and trick and bleed her at your pleasure?' / I stood like one caught in some raillery, / not understanding what is said to him, / lost for an answer to such mockery" (49-57).

*Read the footnote about Boniface VIII

Look at this description: "The sinner's feet jerked madly; then again / his voice rose, this time choked with sighs and tears, / and said at last: 'What do you want of me then? / If to know who I am drives you so fearfully / that you descend the bank to ask it, know / that the Great Mantle** was once hung upon me" (61-66).

** Read footnote about the Great Mantle

"'Beneath my head are dragged all who have gone / before me in buying and selling holy office; / there they cower in fissures of the stone. / I too shall be plunged down when that great cheat / for whom I took you comes here in his turn. / Longer already have I baked my feet / and been planted upside-down, than he shall be / before the west sends down a lawless Shepherd / of uglier deeds to cover him and me'" (70-78).

“Nor did Peter, nor the others, ask silver or gold / of Matthew when they chose him for the place / the despicable and damned apostle sold” (88-90).

This, of course, is a reference to Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus by selling him to the Romans for thirty pieces of silver. Judas subsequently hanged himself.

Peter was the first pope. And any reference to “Great Keys” is a reference to the papacy.

Canto XX

Though forbidden, fortune-telling, numerology, astrology, and other such practices were very popular in the Middle Ages. Popes were even said to have had their charts done.

Even though it was practiced, everyone knew it was a sin. You sinned if you went to a fortune teller. You were an even bigger sinner if you were a fortune-teller.

Know how these sinners are punished. It's actually a little bit funny, when you think about it.

Know that he encounters Tiresias. Know Tiresias' story as delineated in the footnotes.

Canto XXIII

Everyone hates a hypocrite. They loudly proclaim the immoral indiscretions of others while doing it themselves--secretly. Do as I say, not as I do, makes no sense.

Know how these hypocrites are punished. It's quite wonderful.

Know who Caiaphas was.

 
 

Dante Stuff

2/7/2011

 
Things to Consider for the Introduction to Dante, Norton Anthologies, pp. 1010-1015.

1.      Know where Dante was born, in what city, in what country.

2.      Know the year of his birth.

3.      Know his marital status.

4.      Know his political affiliation.

5.      What is the name of Dante’s first love?

6.      How was Dante’s poetry iconoclastic? What rules did Dante break?

7.      When did Dante begin The Divine Comedy?

8.      When did Dante finish the poem?

9.      Know about the way Dante’s depiction of Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell are arranged. Know their lengths.

10.  Know about the significance of numbers.

11.  Know what hell looks like—according to Dante—the architecture, if you will.

12.  Know the architecture of Purgatory and Paradise (I will put this on the board).

13.  Know why The Divine Comedy is called a comedy.

14.  Know that Dante was a highly visual poet. I want you to start recognizing that.

15.  Know who Dante meets—the name of his guide.

16.  Know the symbolism of the three creatures.

17.  What does the editor say about the variety of tones used in the poem?

18.  Where does the real Inferno begin—according to the editor?

19.  Why are these people punished?

20.  Know about Minos.

21.  Know about Paolo and Francesca. Why are they important? What happened to them? How did they end up in the inferno?

22.  What do Paolo and Francesca represent?

23.  Why are their fates bittersweet?

24.  Where do the heretics reside?

25.  What is the name of the city within Canto X?

 
While none of the sonnets below will be on the exam, this hand-out is intended to give students an idea of the origins of the sonnet.  A modern or contemporary sonnet or something that calls itself a sonnet (because it is being used ironically) will be on the exam. You will be asked to interpret it. That is in the essay part of the exam--worth 30 points. A modern or contemporary sonnet will differ from these old ones, but it will still have some things in common.

So here is a copy of the handout:

Courtly Love

Marriages between nobles were always arranged. Courtly love was also a reaction to the Church, which portrayed women as temptresses, incarnations of Eve, and the woman responsible for the fall.  The Virgin Mary represents divine womanhood, a standard no woman could possibly achieve. 

The knight serves his lady, obeying her every command. She is in complete control. He owes her his complete obedience. The knight’s love for the lady ennobles him. Because of her, he can perform valorous deeds. Even if the lady does not love him back, the very fact that he loves this lady makes him a better man.

Five Main Attributes of Courtly Love

1.      The participants must be aristocrats.

2.      There are various rituals and elaborate conventions of etiquette. The knight writes songs and poems for her.  He gives her flowers, jewelry, and anything else. In turn, she often reproaches him. She is in charge of the relationship. He is her servant.

3.      The relationship is secret, except perhaps for a few confidantes and go-betweens.

4.      The relationship is adulterous.  She is married.  He usually is not. 

5.      It is literary. The troubadours wrote songs about it.

A few thoughts from C. S. Lewis’ The Four Loves:

There are four types of love:

1.      Affection: often for the sub-human but for some people as well

2.      Friendship:  a select group of people

3.      Eros: Romantic love

4.      Charity: the kind of love that we are supposed to have for God—unconditional, obedient, and expecting nothing in return.

“Divine love is Gift-Love” (11). Lewis calls this “agape”—the kind of love that God gives to the humans that he created. It is complete and unconditional. Humans can never achieve that level of love but that they should strive toward it.

Another way to look at Gift Love is as “that love which moves a man to work and plan and save for the future well-being of his family” (11).

In terms of love for that special “other,” Gift love is “really God-like; and among our Gift-Loves those are most God-like which are most boundless and unwearied in giving. All the things the poets say about them are true. Their joy, their energy, their patience, their readiness to forgive, their desire for the good of the beloved ….those who love greatly are ‘near’ to God. But of course it is ‘nearness by likeness.’ It will not of itself produce nearness of approach… Meanwhile, however, the likeness is a splendor. That is why we may mistake Like for Same.  We may give our human loves the unconditional allegiance which we owe only to God. Then they become gods; then they become demons. Then they will destroy us, and also destroy themselves. For natural loves that are allowed to become gods do not remain loves. They are still called so, but can become in fact complicated forms of hatred” (19-20).

Need-love arises from the fact that we are born as helpless infants, totally depending on an adult’s care. Some deem it as ‘selfish,’ but it is not, for we need it in order to survive (12-14). Need-loves are usually “not set up to be gods. They are not near enough (in likeness) to God” (20).

“Need-love cries…from our poverty; Gift-Love longs to serve, or even suffer….Need-Love says of a woman, ‘I cannot live without her’; Gift-Love longs to give her happiness, comfort, protection—if possible, wealth; appreciative Love gazes and holds its breath and is silent, rejoices that such a wonder should exist if not for him, will not be wholly dejected by losing her, would rather have it so than never to have seen her at all” (33).

Eros begins with “a delighted preoccupation with the Beloved—a general, unspecified preoccupation for her in her totality. A man in this state really hasn’t the leisure to think of sex. He is too busy thinking of a person. The fact that she is a woman is far less important than the fact that she is herself. He is full of desire, but the desire may not be sexually toned. If you asked him what he wanted, the true reply would often be, ‘to go on thinking of her.’ He is love’s contemplative” (133-134). 

Eros makes a man not just want a woman, but want a particular woman (135). Eros “obliterate[s] the distinction

between giving and receiving” (137).  Eros means that the lovers are willing to make sacrifices for the benefit of the other.

The biggest danger is “that of a soul-destroying surrender to the senses” (137). In other words, we start viewing the beloved as divine. “When natural things look divine, the demoniac is just around the corner’ (144-145).  The big danger with being in love is that it turns love into a religion. Humans are temporal beings.

Ever tried to break up a friend’s destructive relationship? It’s hard. “For it is the very mark of Eros that when he is in us we had rather share unhappiness with the Beloved than be happy on any other terms” (150).

The Italian sonnets differ from English sonnets, not only in rhyme scheme and stanza design, but also in terms of narrators, audience, point-of-view, types of conceits, and humanist. Also, look at the specific diction and syntax.

Petrarch Sonnet #3

It was the morning of that blessed day[1]                             1

Whereon the Sun in pity veiled his glare                               2

For the Lord’s agony, that, unaware,                                 3

I fell captive, Lady, to the sway                                            4

Of your swift eyes: that seemed no time to stay                5

The strokes of Love: I stepped into the snare                   6

Secure, with no suspicion: then, and there                                    7

I found my cue in man’s most tragic play.                          8

Love caught me naked to his shaft, his sheaf,                    9

The entrance for his ambush and surprise                                   10

Against the heart wide open through the eyes,[2]               11

The constant gate and fountain of my grief:                      12

How craven so to strike me stricken so,[3]                           13

Yet from you fully armed concealed his bow!                   14                          

[1] In Sonnet 211 Petrarch gives the date as April 6, 1327, a Monday. Here too the day is apparently intended to be the day of Christ’s death (April 6) rather than Good Friday, 1327.

[2] The image of the eyes as the gateway to the heart had been a poetic common-place since pre-Dante days.

[3] With grief on commemorating the Passion of Christ.

Petrarch’s Sonnet #61

Blest be the day, and blest the month and year,                                                1

Season and hour and very moment blest,                                            2

The lovely land and place where first possessed                                                3

By two pure eyes I found me prisoner;                                                  4

And blest the first sweet pain, the first most dear,                           5

Which burnt my heart when Love came in as guest;                         6

And blest the bow, the shafts which shook my breast,                   7

And even the wounds which Love delivered there.                         8

Blest be the words and voices which filled the grove                       9

And glen with echoes of my lady’s name;                                             10

The sighs, the tears, the fierce despair of love;                                  11

And blest the sonnet-sources of my fame;                                          12

And blest that thought of thoughts which is her own,                     13

Of her, her only, of herself alone!                                                            14

1.       In the first stanza (lines 1-4), Petrarch repeats the word “blest.”  How is that word a conceit?

2.       One thing to note: Petrarch often uses eyes because they are “the windows to the soul.” They are the place where love enters and invades the heart. Explain the metaphor of the “blest” as it is juxtaposed against the lover’s status as “prisoner.”

3.       Fire and water purify. And Petrarch uses fire. How else does he use fire?

4.       What does the story of Echo and Narcissus have to do with this poem?

5.       In what ways is this poem emblematic of courtly love? Explain.

Petrarch Sonnet #90

She used to let her golden hair fly free                              1

For the wind to toy and tangle and molest;                       2

Her eyes were brighter than the radiant west.                 3

(Seldom they shine so now.) I used to see                         4

Pity look out of those deep eyes on me.                             5

(“It was false pity,” you would now protest.)                     6

I had love’s tinder heaped within my breast;                    7

What wonder that the flame burned furiously?                8

She did not walk in any mortal way,                                   9

But with angelic progress; when she spoke,                      10

Unearthly voices sang in unison.                                         11

She seemed divine among the dreary folk                         12

Of  earth. You say she is not so today?                               13

Well, though the bow’s unbent, the wound bleeds on.     14

Shakespeare’s Sonnet # 20

A woman’s face with Nature’s own hand painted                              1

Hast thou, the master-mistress of my passion;                                  2

A woman’s gentle heart, but not acquainted                                     3

With shifting change, as is false women’s fashion;                            4

An eye more bright than theirs, less false in rolling,                         5          (rolling means straying)

Gilding the object whereupon it gazeth;                                            6

A man in hue, all hues controlling,                                                     7

Which steals men’s eyes and women’s souls amazeth.                     8

And for a woman wert thou first created,                                         9

Till Nature, as she wrought thee, fell a-doting,                                 10

And by addition me of thee defeated,                                                11

By adding one thing to my purpose nothing.                                     12

     But since she pricked thee out for women’s pleasure,                 13

     Mine be thy love and thy love’s use their treasure.                      14

1.      What aspects of courtly love can be seen in this poem? Explain—using lines and words.

2.      List at least two conceits and explain why they are conceits.

3.      What Biblical or mythical allusions are there? Explain.

4.      What words are reminiscent of a Petrarchan sonnet? E xplain.

5.      Which words are ambiguous? Explain the ambiguity.

Shakespeare’s Sonnet # 130

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;                                        1

Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;                                              2

If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;                                3

If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.                                4

I have seen roses damasked, red and white,                                       5

But no such roses see I in her cheeks;                                                 6

And in some perfumes is there more delight                                      7

Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.                                 8

I love to hear her speak, yet well I know                                            9

That music hath a far more pleasing sound.                                        10

I grant I never saw a goddess go;                                                       11

My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground.                         12

     And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare                                  13

     As any she belied with false compare.                                           14

1.      How is Shakespeare turning the Petrarchan sonnet upside-down?

2.      Why do you think he is doing this?

3.      Which words are ambiguous?  Explain the ambiguity.



 

I went through the process of writing an essay—actually two essays—myself, in order to get a handle on your experience and the level of difficulty of this assignment. Thus, I have included things I have done as examples of what might be done. This is not for you to copy, but to consider when rewriting your own essays. My writing is done in bold on this blog, in Arial on the handout.

The Introductory Paragraph and Thesis Statement
1. Make the introductory paragraph/thesis statement short and sweet. Take a stand. Do not be too vague by saying things like”
Eavan Boland’s “The Pomegranate” contrasts with Rita Dove’s “The Bistro Styx” but they also have things in common.

2. Include the names of the poets (not authors) and the names of the poems too.

3. Do not include “proof” in the first paragraph.

4. Everything, from the first paragraph on, should remain in the present tense.

Here is my entire first paragraph:
While the myth of Ceres and Persephone lies at the hearts of both Eavan Boland’s “The Pomegranate” and Rita Dove’s “The Bistro Styx,”1 one narrator finds a kind of redemption in the myth while the other feels the pangs of an irreparable loss.

Supporting Paragraphs
Topic Sentences
1. First, because I instructed you to compare and contrast two poems by first addressing one and then the other, start by using evidence from one of the poems. Follow the same process when examining the other poem too.

2. Have a clear topic sentence. You may use partial quotations in the topic sentence but do not use quotations as the topic sentence. Besides, one of the things that I hope to accomplish is to teach you how to write good topic sentences on your own.

3. Topic sentences should be somewhat transitional—that is, they should connect to previous paragraphs.

Here are four of mine from the body of my essay:

Boland’s narrator refers to the myth as “The only legend I have ever loved” (1).2
1 Note that the quotation marks go outside the commas. I have not cited yet. When I do, that will change.

Next, she ties the myth of Persephone to that of Eve: “She put out her hand and pulled down/ the French sound for apple” (34-35).

While Boland’s mother walks the earth, Rita Dove’s narrator takes one step into the Underworld in “The Bistro Styx.”

One way that the daughter holds onto her reign is to avariciously attack the grotesquely described food set before her.

4. Note that all topic sentences are in the present tense.

5. The sentences get to the point quickly too.

Including Examples and Analysis within Individual Paragraphs

1. When in doubt, turn to the text. Read and then reread for greater understanding.

2. Avoid using really long quotations; instead consider partial quotations.

3. Make the quotations part of your sentence.

4. Do not restate quotations.

5. Do not use the word “state.”

6. Do not say, “This quote means” or “In this quote,” etc. Just say it.

This is my complete second paragraph:

Boland’s narrator refers to the myth as “The only [italics mine] legend I have ever loved3 (1). By the third line, she has also “found and rescued” her child—and even herself. The mother, once “an exiled child in the crackling dusk of / the underworld” (11-12) understands and accepts the process. She got through it, and so will her child. That does not mean that it will be easy, however. The mother who watches “my child asleep beside her teen magazines, / her can of coke, her plate of uncut fruit” (27-28), reminisces about how she used to carry her safely “back past whitebeams / and wasps and honey-scented buddleias” (17-18). Though the mother considers making “any bargain to keep her” (16), she does not, for she knows that their fates are “inescapable” (22).

2 Note that the quotation mark is inside the sentence this time. That is because I cited a line from the poem.

3 Though I have added emphasis by italicizing one of the words, the quotation speaks for itself. I do not then need to explain a strong quotation. Note that I added that the emphasis was mine, however.

Do you see how I am not explaining the first quotation? That is because it speaks for itself. This is my complete paragraph #4, the first half of the part of the essay that addresses “The Bistro Styx”:

While Boland’s mother walks the earth, Rita Dove’s narrator takes one step into the underworld in “The Bistro Styx.” And it really is a different world, a continent away from her American home, in Paris. Time separates them as well. This Persephone is a young adult. It has been a long time since this mother watched her daughter sleeping. As such, this mother feels alarmed by her daughter, noting that she is “thinner, with a mannered gauntness” (1). She becomes more alarmed when they meet across the table. “My blighted child,” she notes, is also “this wary aristocratic mole” (14), in that sense, no longer her child but a woman capable of making her own decisions. “Are you content to conduct your life / as a cliché and, what’s worse, / an anachronism, the brooding artist’s demimonde?” (17-19) the mother thinks and we all know that she wants to say it. As if reading her mind, the daughter makes an awkward defensive move: “’Tourists love us. The Parisians, of course’” (26). In the nick of time, the meal arrives, taking the focus off the current encounter and enabling the daughter to consider her next move.

Conclusions

1. Do not start with “In conclusion.” It’s boring.

2. Write a new topic sentence, preferably one that also includes a transition.

3. Do not repeat your thesis statement.

4. Take the arguments that you have built and then bring them together.

5. Write a “zingy” conclusion—one that resonates, one that makes the reader think.

Here is my final paragraph:

One of the problems with comparing these two poems is that the daughters are in very different stages of life. Boland’s girl is still safe at home while Dove’s daughter, no longer a girl but a woman, is abroad and involved in an adult relationship. As children, we owe our loyalties to our parents. That changes when we make an alliance with a spouse or significant other. And it needs to change, for if it does not, the adult relationships do not work. I wonder if Boland’s analysis of the myth would be as generous ten years later, when her daughter has left the safety of life under the suburban stars and ventured out onto a journey to places unknown.

Here is my complete essay:
The Myth of Persephone in Eavan Boland’s “The Pomegranate” and Rita Dove’s “The Bistro Styx”
Cynthia Losen
While the myth of Ceres and Persephone lies at the hearts of both Eavan Boland’s “The Pomegranate” and Rita Dove’s “The Bistro Styx,” one narrator finds a kind of redemption in the myth while the other feels the pangs of an irreparable loss.

Boland’s narrator refers to the myth as “The only legend I have ever loved” (1). By the third line, she has also “found and rescued” her child—and even herself. The mother, once “an exiled child in the crackling dusk of / the underworld” understands that the natural process is just at work (11-12). She got through it, and so will her child. That does not mean that it will be easy, however. The mother who watches “my child asleep beside her teen magazines, / her can of coke, her plate of uncut fruit” (27-28), reminisces about how she used to carry her safely “back past whitebeams / and wasps and honey-scented buddleias” (17-18). Though the mother considers making “any bargain to keep her” (16), she does not, for she knows that their fates are “inescapable” (22).

Next, she ties the myth of Persephone to that of Eve: “She put out her hand and pulled down / the French sound for apple” (34-35). The story of Eve is that of another child exiled from a parent/god. Eve, along with her husband, Adam, choose to taste forbidden fruit, often depicted as an apple. That choice results in expulsion from the Garden of Eden and exile from God the father. It also means entering a world where they will no longer be protected from pain and suffering and loss. Knowing this, this mother of “The Pomegranate” considers warning her child, but ultimately does not. After all, the mother survived in an underworld where “the stars [were] blighted” (12). As a result, her daughter’s experience has not been as harsh. Now it is the artificial lights of suburbia, along with its “cars and cable television” that “veil” the stars (44-45). Resigned to their fates, the mother decides not to “defer the grief,” for the experience will ultimately be for the girl, a “gift” (49). “The legend will be hers as well as mine,” she says, followed with a triumphant, “She will enter it. As I have. / She will wake up” (50-52). Thus in the end, it is not a curse, not a real loss, no real exile, but an experience that will be shared.

While Boland’s mother walks the earth, Rita Dove’s narrator takes one step into the underworld in “The Bistro Styx.” And it really is a different world, a continent away from her American home, in Paris. Time separates them as well. This Persephone is a young adult. It has been a long time since this mother watched her daughter sleeping. As such, this mother feels alarmed by her daughter, noting that she is “thinner, with a mannered gauntness” (1). She becomes more alarmed when they meet across the table. “My blighted child,” she notes, is also “this wary aristocratic mole” (14), in that sense, no longer her child but a woman capable of making her own decisions. “Are you content to conduct your life / as a cliché and, what’s worse, / an anachronism, the brooding artist’s demimonde?” (17-19) the mother thinks and we all know that she wants to say it. As if reading her mind, the daughter makes an awkward defensive move: “’Tourists love us. The Parisians, of course’” (26). In the nick of time, the meal arrives, taking the focus off the current encounter and enabling the daughter to consider her next move.
One way that the daughter holds onto her reign is to avariciously attack the grotesquely described food set before her. Even in the end, when the mother anxiously asks, “’But are you happy?’” (67), the daughter takes evasive action not by biting into a pomegranate but into a fig, and changing the subject. On the battlefield between childhood and adulthood, the daughter has outwitted her adversary. And her mother knows it. “I’ve lost her, she realizes, though, in the end resigns to the loss for it is the mother who pays the bill.
One of the problems with comparing these two poems is that the daughters are in very different stages of life. Boland’s girl is still safe at home while Dove’s daughter, no longer a girl but a woman, is abroad and involved in an adult relationship. As children, we owe our loyalties to our parents. That changes when we make an alliance with a spouse or significant other. And it needs to change, for if it does not, the adult relationships do not work. I wonder if Boland’s analysis of the myth would be as generous ten years later, when her daughter has left the safety of life under the suburban stars and ventured out onto a journey to places unknown.
 
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

163 U.S. 537

Plessy v. Ferguson ERROR TO THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA No. 210 Argued: April 18, 1896 --- Decided: May 18, 1896

The statute of Louisiana, acts of 1890, c. 111, requiring railway companies carrying passengers in their coaches in that State, to provide equal, but separate, accommodations for the white and colored races, by providing two or more passenger coaches for each passenger train, or by dividing the passenger coaches by a partition so as to secure separate accommodations; and providing that no person shall be permitted to occupy seats in coaches other than the ones assigned to them, on account [p538] of the race they belong to; and requiring the officer of the passenger train to assign each passenger to the coach or compartment assigned for the race to which he or she belong; and imposing fines or imprisonment upon passengers insisting on going into a coach or compartment other than the one set aide for the race to which he or she belongs; and conferring upon officers of the train power to refuse to carry on the train passengers refusing to occupy the coach or compartment assigned to them, and exempting the railway company from liability for such refusal, are not in conflict with the provisions either of the Thirteenth Amendment or of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

This was a petition for writs of prohibition and certiorari, originally filed in the Supreme Court of the State by Plessy, the plaintiff in error, against the Hon. John H. Ferguson, judge of the criminal District Court for the parish of Orleans, and setting forth in substance the following facts:

That petitioner was a citizen of the United States and a resident of the State of Louisiana, of mixed descent, in the proportion of seven eighths Caucasian and one eighth African blood; that the mixture of colored blood was not discernible in him, and that he was entitled to every recognition, right, privilege and immunity secured to the citizens of the United States of the white race by its Constitution and laws; that, on June 7, 1892, he engaged and paid for a first class passage on the East Louisiana Railway from New Orleans to Covington, in the same State, and thereupon entered a passenger train, and took possession of a vacant seat in a coach where passengers of the white race were accommodated; that such railroad company was incorporated by the laws of Louisiana as a common carrier, and was not authorized to distinguish between citizens according to their race. But, notwithstanding this, petitioner was required by the conductor, under penalty of ejection from said train and imprisonment, to vacate said coach and occupy another seat in a coach assigned by said company for persons not of the white race, and for no other reason than that petitioner was of the colored race; that, upon petitioner's refusal to comply with such order, he was, with the aid of a police officer, forcibly ejected from said coach and hurried off to and imprisoned in the parish jail of [p539]New Orleans, and there held to answer a charge made by such officer to the effect that he was guilty of having criminally violated an act of the General Assembly of the State, approved July 10, 1890, in such case made and provided.

That petitioner was subsequently brought before the recorder of the city for preliminary examination and committed for trial to the criminal District Court for the parish of Orleans, where an information was filed against him in the matter above set forth, for a violation of the above act, which act the petitioner affirmed to be null and void, because in conflict with the Constitution of the United States; that petitioner interposed a plea to such information based upon the unconstitutionality of the act of the General Assembly, to which the district attorney, on behalf of the State, filed a demurrer; that, upon issue being joined upon such demurrer and plea, the court sustained the demurrer, overruled the plea, and ordered petitioner to plead over to the facts set forth in the information, and that, unless the judge of the said court be enjoined by a writ of prohibition from further proceeding in such case, the court will proceed to fine and sentence petitioner to imprisonment, and thus deprive him of his constitutional rights set forth in his said plea, notwithstanding the unconstitutionality of the act under which he was being prosecuted; that no appeal lay from such sentence, and petitioner was without relief or remedy except by writs of prohibition and certiorari. Copies of the information and other proceedings in the criminal District Court were annexed to the petition as an exhibit.

Upon the filing of this petition, an order was issued upon the respondent to show cause why a writ of prohibition should not issue and be made perpetual, and a further order that the record of the proceedings had in the criminal cause be certified and transmitted to the Supreme Court.

To this order the respondent made answer, transmitting a certified copy of the proceedings, asserting the constitutionality of the law, and averring that, instead of pleading or admitting that he belonged to the colored race, the said Plessy declined and refused, either by pleading or otherwise, to admit [p540] that he was in any sense or in any proportion a colored man.

The case coming on for a hearing before the Supreme Court, that court was of opinion that the law under which the prosecution was had was constitutional, and denied the relief prayed for by the petitioner. Ex parte Plessy, 45 La.Ann. 80. Whereupon petitioner prayed for a writ of error from this court, which was allowed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Louisiana.

 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954) (USSC+ / 347 U.S. 483

Argued December 9, 1952                               Reargued December 8, 1953

Decided May 17, 1954

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF KANSAS*

 

Segregation of white and Negro children in the public schools of a State solely on the basis of race, pursuant to state laws permitting or requiring such segregation, denies to Negro children the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment -- even though the physical facilities and other "tangible" factors of white and Negro schools may be equal.

 

(a) The history of the Fourteenth Amendment is inconclusive as to its intended effect on public education.

(b) The question presented in these cases must be determined not on the basis of conditions existing when the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted, but in the light of the full development of public education and its present place in American life throughout the Nation.

(c) Where a State has undertaken to provide an opportunity for an education in its public schools, such an opportunity is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.

(d) Segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race deprives children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities, even though the physical facilities and other "tangible" factors may be equal.

(e) The "separate but equal" doctrine adopted in Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537, has no place in the field of public education.

(f) The cases are restored to the docket for further argument on specified questions relating to the forms of the decrees.

 

Opinion

MR. CHIEF JUSTICE WARREN delivered the opinion of the Court.

These cases come to us from the States of Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, and Delaware. They are premised on different facts and different local conditions, but a common legal question justifies their consideration together in this consolidated opinion.

In each of the cases, minors of the Negro race, through their legal representatives, seek the aid of the courts in obtaining admission to the public schools of their community on a nonsegregated basis. In each instance, they had been denied admission to schools attended by white children under laws requiring or permitting segregation according to race. This segregation was alleged to deprive the plaintiffs of the equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth Amendment. In each of the cases other than the Delaware case, a three-judge federal district court denied relief to the plaintiffs on the so-called "separate but equal" doctrine announced by this Court in Plessy v. Fergson, 163 U.S. 537. Under that doctrine, equality of treatment is accorded when the races are provided substantially equal facilities, even though these facilities be separate. In the Delaware case, the Supreme Court of Delaware adhered to that doctrine, but ordered that the plaintiffs be admitted to the white schools because of their superiority to the Negro schools.

The plaintiffs contend that segregated public schools are not "equal" and cannot be made "equal," and that hence they are deprived of the equal protection of the laws. Because of the obvious importance of the question presented, the Court took jurisdiction. Argument was heard in the 1952 Term, and reargument was heard this Term on certain questions propounded by the Court.

Reargument was largely devoted to the circumstances surrounding the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868. It covered exhaustively consideration of the Amendment in Congress, ratification by the states, then-existing practices in racial segregation, and the views of proponents and opponents of the Amendment. This discussion and our own investigation convince us that, although these sources cast some light, it is not enough to resolve the problem with which we are faced. At best, they are inconclusive. The most avid proponents of the post-War Amendments undoubtedly intended them to remove all legal distinctions among "all persons born or naturalized in the United States." Their opponents, just as certainly, were antagonistic to both the letter and the spirit of the Amendments and wished them to have the most limited effect. What others in Congress and the state legislatures had in mind cannot be determined with any degree of certainty.

An additional reason for the inconclusive nature of the Amendment's history with respect to segregated schools is the status of public education at that time. In the South, the movement toward free common schools, supported by general taxation, had not yet taken hold. Education of white children was largely in the hands of private groups. Education of Negroes was almost nonexistent, and practically all of the race were illiterate. In fact, any education of Negroes was forbidden by law in some states. Today, in contrast, many Negroes have achieved outstanding success in the arts and sciences, as well as in the business and professional world. It is true that public school education at the time of the Amendment had advanced further in the North, but the effect of the Amendment on Northern States was generally ignored in the congressional debates. Even in the North, the conditions of public education did not approximate those existing today. The curriculum was usually rudimentary; ungraded schools were common in rural areas; the school term was but three months a year in many states, and compulsory school attendance was virtually unknown. As a consequence, it is not surprising that there should be so little in the history of the Fourteenth Amendment relating to its intended effect on public education.

In the first cases in this Court construing the Fourteenth Amendment, decided shortly after its adoption, the Court interpreted it as proscribing all state-imposed discriminations against the Negro race. The doctrine of "separate but equal" did not make its appearance in this Court until 1896 in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson, supra, involving not education but transportation. American courts have since labored with the doctrine for over half a century. In this Court, there have been six cases involving the "separate but equal" doctrine in the field of public education. In Cumming v. County Board of Education, 175 U.S. 528, and Gong Lum v. Rice, 275 U.S. 78, the validity of the doctrine itself was not challenged. In more recent cases, all on the graduate school level, inequality was found in that specific benefits enjoyed by white students were denied to Negro students of the same educational qualifications. Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada, 305 U.S. 337; Sipuel v. Oklahoma, 332 U.S. 631; Sweatt v. Painter, 339 U.S. 629; McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents, 339 U.S. 637. In none of these cases was it necessary to reexamine the doctrine to grant relief to the Negro plaintiff. And in Sweatt v. Painter, supra, the Court expressly reserved decision on the question whether Plessy v. Ferguson should be held inapplicable to public education.

In the instant cases, that question is directly presented. Here, unlike Sweatt v. Painter, there are findings below that the Negro and white schools involved have been equalized, or are being equalized, with respect to buildings, curricula, qualifications and salaries of teachers, and other "tangible" factors. Our decision, therefore, cannot turn on merely a comparison of these tangible factors in the Negro and white schools involved in each of the cases. We must look instead to the effect of segregation itself on public education.

In approaching this problem, we cannot turn the clock back to 1868, when the Amendment was adopted, or even to 1896, when Plessy v. Ferguson was written. We must consider public education in the light of its full development and its present place in American life throughout the Nation. Only in this way can it be determined if segregation in public schools deprives these plaintiffs of the equal protection of the laws.

Today, education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments. Compulsory school attendance laws and the great expenditures for education both demonstrate our recognition of the importance of education to our democratic society. It is required in the performance of our most basic public responsibilities, even service in the armed forces. It is the very foundation of good citizenship. Today it is a principal instrument in awakening the child to cultural values, in preparing him for later professional training, and in helping him to adjust normally to his environment. In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education. Such an opportunity, where the state has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.

We come then to the question presented: Does segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other "tangible" factors may be equal, deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities? We believe that it does.

In Sweatt v. Painter, supra, in finding that a segregated law school for Negroes could not provide them equal educational opportunities, this Court relied in large part on "those qualities which are incapable of objective measurement but which make for greatness in a law school." In McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents, supra, the Court, in requiring that a Negro admitted to a white graduate school be treated like all other students, again resorted to intangible considerations: ". . . his ability to study, to engage in discussions and exchange views with other students, and, in general, to learn his profession." Such considerations apply with added force to children in grade and high schools. To separate them from others of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone. The effect of this separation on their educational opportunities was well stated by a finding in the Kansas case by a court which nevertheless felt compelled to rule against the Negro plaintiffs:

Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children. The impact is greater when it has the sanction of the law, for the policy of separating the races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of the negro group. A sense of inferiority affects the motivation of a child to learn. Segregation with the sanction of law, therefore, has a tendency to [retard] the educational and mental development of negro children and to deprive them of some of the benefits they would receive in a racial[ly] integrated school system.

Whatever may have been the extent of psychological knowledge at the time of Plessy v. Ferguson, this finding is amply supported by modern authority. Any language in Plessy v. Ferguson contrary to this finding is rejected.

We conclude that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom the actions have been brought are, by reason of the segregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. This disposition makes unnecessary any discussion whether such segregation also violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Because these are class actions, because of the wide applicability of this decision, and because of the great variety of local conditions, the formulation of decrees in these cases presents problems of considerable complexity. On reargument, the consideration of appropriate relief was necessarily subordinated to the primary question -- the constitutionality of segregation in public education. We have now announced that such segregation is a denial of the equal protection of the laws. In order that we may have the full assistance of the parties in formulating decrees, the cases will be restored to the docket, and the parties are requested to present further argument on Questions 4 and 5 previously propounded by the Court for the reargument this Term The Attorney General of the United States is again invited to participate. The Attorneys General of the states requiring or permitting segregation in public education will also be permitted to appear as amici curiae upon request to do so by September 15, 1954, and submission of briefs by October 1, 1954.

It is so ordered.

Together with No. 2, Briggs et al. v. Elliott et al., on appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of South Carolina, argued December 9-10, 1952, reargued December 7-8, 1953; No. 4, Davis et al. v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, Virginia, et al. , on appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, argued December 10, 1952, reargued December 7-8, 1953, and No. 10, Gebhart et al. v. Belton et al., on certiorari to the Supreme Court of Delaware, argued December 11, 1952, reargued December 9, 1953.