Aim: How are allegories and symbolism utilized to highlight the conditions in “The Masque of the Red Death”?
Do Now: Think/Pair/Share
Based on your research of the Number “7” share your findings with your partner.
Some responses to the Do Now from the class include:
Religious meaning tied to God’s creation and the 7 deadly sins
Known as a lucky number and is often tied to lottery tickets or casinos
7 colors of the rainbow
7 notes in the diatonic scale
7 stages of life
7 virtues/flaws/punishments, eternal life
7 wonders of the world
Quickly after the DO NOW was answered, Ms. Peterson went on to explain what an allusion and allegory was.
What is an allusion?
Unexplainable familiarity, the brief and indirect referencing of a person, place, thing, or idea and expecting the reader to understand base off of that only.
Ex. “Wake up sleeping beauty”
What is an allegory?
Al\le\go\ry – (N) A literary, dramatic, pictorial device in which each literal character, object, event, represents symbols illustrating/ showing an idea, moral, or religious principle. A parable, fable, story.
An allegory is a narrative that can be read on both a surface level and a deeper level. An allegory is a story intended to be read on a symbolic level, teach a moral lesson, and reveal a truth about a condition in life.
In an allegorical story, the characters, settings, and events are intended to have meanings independent of the action in the surface story.
Ex. The palace in “The Masque of the Red Death” may stand for the entire world. In fact, the entire story can be seen as a symbol representing a truth about a condition of life.
AP English Literature and Composition Terms | ALLEGORY
Video shown in class to help explain what an allegory is.
Annotating and reading of the first two sections of “The Masque of the Red Death”.
Our class then worked on the following questions in groups and discussed later. Included are answers from the class discussion.
Describe the symptoms of the plague and how long it takes to kill its victims.
Some of the symptoms of the plague were sharp pains, sudden dizziness, and profuse bleeding. Death would usually occur within half an hour.
Describe Prince Prospero, and explain the symbolic meaning Prince Prospero’s name may suggest.
Prince Prospero’s name both symbolically means and sounds like prosperity. His name suggests that he is a successful and wealthy prince but he is actually quite the opposite.
Describe the setting of the story.
Most groups discussed that the setting of the story was either Medieval Europe as the Red Death draws connections to the real life Black Death or the Victorian Era.
Why does Prince Prospero summon and take a thousand of his knights and dames to the abbey of his castle?
He is taking his closest allies and companions to hide from the Red Death. More specifically a group stated how he was not acting for the general good of his people and more for his own survival and benefit of the rich. While he leaves the majority of his people and subject to suffer against the Red Death.
Critique Prince Prospero’s actions; is he really a dauntless and sagacious ruler, and for that matter, what does Prince Prospero’s action(s) say about his role as a leader of his dominion?
Prince Prosperous is a coward and has proven himself to not be dauntless and sagacious as he is acting in an incredibly self absorbed way while leaving his subjects to suffer from the plague.
Describe the abbey and what the courtiers have done to keep people from coming in and out?
Prince Prospero made the abbey hermetically sealed (air tight) by locking up the entrances. Various classmates shared how the walls and gates were made out of iron and bolted shut.
List the things Prince Prospero brings with him to the abbey to entertain his one thousand guests.
Buffoons
Improvisatori
Ballet dancers
Musicians
Beauty
Wine
How long have the guests and Prince Prospero been trapped in the abbey, and what does Prince Prospero decide to do after this length of time?
The guests and Prince Prosperous had been in the abbey for around 5 to 6 months, and during this time the prince decided to throw a masquerade ball.
According to Prince Prospero what is within the abbey and what is without?
All of his appliances of pleasure and security were within and the Red Death was without.
Reflection:
In today’s lesson, the class learned what an allegory is and how it applies to the story, “The Masque of the Red Death”, that we are currently reading as a class. We learned this so we can better analyze and understand the meaning and purpose of the story we are reading. I will use my knowledge of allegories to further pick apart the story and view it as an allegorical story.
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