Forgive My Guilt

"Two birds on golden legs slim as dream things

Ran like quicksilver on the golden sand"

Share your story: "I am sure of one sin I have done" What childhood sin have you commited against nature without thinking about the consequences?

Bee, a man alone in front all this hard, red earth

Bee's physical struggle with the earth seems to reflect his spiritual conflict and frustration. He is in the hot sun with "his back wet down with perspiration". He exerts much physical effort "lifting up the iron fork in the air and bringing it down and burying it in the earth and lifting up the fork again, sinking it into the earth with his strength as if it was the earth that hurt him and he wanted to stab it, stab it, stab it until he kill it".

Eva is looking at Bee. She wonders "if all this digging and uprooting and sweating and grunting going to bring forth anything, or if all a man could do is dig and uproot and bury seeds in the earth and pray and hope things grow...".

This image of struggle, frustration and even the violence of wanting to stab and kill the land is reflected in other events throughout the novel. Can you think of any?

And what Winston want to do? He want to be a policeman.

" 'Go,' Bee say, very soft. And the boy there with his tall uneasiness. 'Go. You have nineteen years. I can't hold you here. Go!' Bee say, his voice low, stifling.

...'Go!' he say again, his voice rising and breaking as his vexation get the uper hand of him. And Winston stand up in front of him, wanting to move and don't know how to move. 'Go!' And before Winston could do anything, Bee turn to Taffy, 'And you? You don't want to go too? You don't want to be a police too to arrest your own people? You don't want to be one too?'"
--Chap 4 The Wine of Astonishment

Why is Bee so upset when his eldest son Winston wants to sit the police examination?

Where does Eva work?

Eva is no doubt a loving mother, supportive wife, and a spiritually strong, resilient woman. In The Wine of Astonishment, does Eva work outside the home? Prove your response.

Letter to the Brethren

Brethren,

I know our Lord has made us see hard things and make us to drink the wine of astonishment...I know that we have been like lost sheep and the shepherds have caused us to go astray...I know that we dont know if we is black or white!!

But praise the Lord for the rain brethren!! And the one day meh son eh come, de Spirit come!

I wish alyuh coulda tell meh son what happen that Sunday...I wish Bolo did know!

Love,
Old Mother Raymond

We have five children

"Winston and Taffy is nearly men, and Joyce is fifteen...But we have two other children: Gem is four...but Reggie is a boy-child, eight years old..."

Out of Bee and Eva's five children, which one is your favourite?

Bolo: A Hard Question

"And every Sunday Bolo is there in church, tall, unbending, his face stiff, his eyes burning. He not singing the hymns; he not praying. He is just there like a hard question staring in everybody face" Chap 3 The Wine of Astonishment

In your own words, what question is Bolo really representing?

Eulalie look for trouble!

Do you agree with Eva? Did Eulalie look for trouble when she chose Ivan Morton? Or do you sympathize with her?

"hummingbird briskness tamed down..."

Have you ever noticed a hummingbird humming about? Did you ever find yourself following the bird with your eyes and staring at its brisk wings? Were you ever captivated by its vibrancy, beauty and even its little hum?

So you've read The Wine of Astonishment. Yes, of course you've read it and this is your second reading of the book during class time! =) In your opinion, whose hummingbird briskness has been tamed and how so?

Union Jack

How does this image relate to The Wine of Astonishment?

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Sonnet Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802

Earth has not anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
The river glideth at his own sweet will:
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
And all that. mighty heart is lying still!

William Wordsworth

Wordsworth

William Wordsworth

(7 April 1770 - 23 April 1850) Wordsworth was a major English Romantic Poet who helped to launch the Romantic Age in English Literature.

• Wordsworth grew up in the countryside and did not see the city until he was 18!


• He lost his mother when he was 8 then his father 5 yrs after.


• Wordsworth married four (4) times!


• When he died, he was considered by many to be the greatest poet in the world!

Background of Sonnet Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802

This poem was written in 1802 about an experience Wordsworth had with his sister on Westminster Bridge. The coach they were travelling on paused on the bridge and the view of the city in the early morning seemed to have impressed Wordsworth. His sister wrote in her journal:

"It was a beautiful morning. The city, St. Paul's, with the river, and a multitude of little boats, made a most beautiful sight as we crossed Westminster Bridge. The houses were not overhung by their cloud of smoke, and they were spread out endlessly, yet the sun shone so brightly, with such a fierce light; that there was something like the purity of one of nature's own grand spectacles."

So where was Wordsworth going? I'm glad you asked! First we must go 11 years earlier when Wordsworth had an affair with a French girl, Annette Vallon, and had an illegitimate daughter Anne Caroline. Because of lack of money and Britain's tensions with France, he returned alone to England the next year although he had expressed to Annette a wish to marry her.

In 1802, he was able to return to France to see Annette. However, Wordsworth now wished to marry his childhood friend, Mary Hutchinson. So the purpose of his journey was to discuss his obligations to Annette and Caroline and free his conscience to marry Mary. Although many doubt his desire to marry Annette, he supported her and his daughter as best he could in later life.

Cheep! Cheep!

What is significant about this image?