Does Scott use simple or unfamiliar language?
Find a vivid picture (for example, Canto I, stanzas 11, 12), and examine the language to see what kind of words are most effective: specific or general, concrete or abstract, figurative or literal.
Do the same with some passage that presents an impression of sounds (as in Canto I, stanza 3).
Can you see any difference between this poem and a prose story in language, thought, beauty of description, or any other respect except metrical form?
THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THE AUTHOR.--Was Scott a Highlander or a Lowlander?
What do we know of his father and mother? of his earlier ancestors? of his childhood? of his boyhood interests? of his education and training?
What profession did he enter? How successful was he in it? What was his reputation? What was his first literary venture? Name his great poems in the order in which they appeared. Give some idea of their success.
Why did he stop writing poetry? Compare his success as a novelist with his success as a poet.
How did he change his manner of living as he became increasingly successful?
What misfortune overtook him? How did he meet it?
Give a picture of his home life.
What are the chief traits of his character?
OUTLINE FOR THE STUDY OF THE ANCIENT MARINER
I. Preparation
This is a wonderful poem, which makes a profound impression on an imaginative mind; but it is most difficult to teach. This is because of its very simplicity. The teacher must try to put himself into the attitude of a child and read the poem several times until the vividness of the pictures and the beauty of the language have captivated his imagination. Then he must attempt to put his pupils into the same frame of mind. At this point it is helpful to discuss the differences between prose and poetry, the beauty or horror of a vivid dream, and the real truth that often underlies a fairy story or a dream story. Next, the translation of the Latin quotation that is prefixed to the poem may be read and discussed simply, especially the first sentence. The teacher must try to secure from his class, if possible, what Coleridge calls "that willing suspension of disbelief which constitutes poetic faith."
II. Reading and Study
After this very important preparation and a rapid reading of the poem, as in the case of _The Lady of the Lake_, the teacher will find it profitable to read the poem again rather slowly with the class in order to bring out the meaning of words, the clearness of the pictures, the simple train of incidents, the rapidity of the narrative, the remarkable development of the Mariner's character, and the simple beauty of his faith and love.
III. Study of the Poem as a Whole
SETTING.--To whom and under what circumstances was the story told?
How do music, and feasting, and ceremony serve to set off the story?
Trace the course of the Mariner's voyage.
Can you form any idea of the time when he lived, or of the length of time that he was absent on his voyage?
Why was not Coleridge more definite in regard to time and place?
"The poem is a story told by pictures." Name the most important ones.
Note the details that make them clear. In what respects are they unusual?
PLOT.--Name the incidents that lead to the killing of the albatross; those that lead from the killing of the albatross to the blessing of the water snakes; and those that lead from this point to the end.
Show how one incident leads to another by the law of cause and effect.
Show how the killing of the albatross and the blessing of the water snakes are the most important events of all.
How does the author impress us with the importance of the Mariner's crime?
Which events in the story are caused by the Mariner? which by the supernatural beings?
Show how the author makes improbable events, like the coming of the spectre-bark, seem probable.
CHARACTERS.--Show why the Mariner is the only important human character.
In what respect are the supernatural characters important?
How are they like mortals? how unlike?
Describe the Mariner's appearance. Trace carefully the changes in the development of his character.
What do we know of his companions? Why were they punished?
INTERPRETATION.--What idea or truth does the author bring out in the poem?
Show how the Mariner in his development illustrates it.
METHOD OF NARRATION.--Who begins the narrative? Who else soon takes it up? What part does each tell? Does the Mariner tell anything beyond what he himself saw or heard?
Compare this narrative with some other with respect to the rapidity with which the story moves.
Note some places where the movement is most rapid, and try to discover how the poet makes it so.
FORM.--Why do you suppose this poem is divided into seven parts?
Do the stanzas correspond to thought divisions as they do in _The Lady of the Lake_?
What is a ballad? Select three stanzas in different parts of the poem and mark the scansion. Compare these to see whether they are alike, and, if not, what variations there are.
Compare this poem with some other ballad, for example, "Alice Brand"
(_The Lady of the Lake_, Canto IV), to find what is the normal ballad stanza.
STYLE.--Did Coleridge use language of a time other than his own? Select several words that he would not have used in writing a letter. Do they seem appropriate here? Why? Are the sentences simple or involved?
Are the words common or unusual? Are the most effective words concrete or abstract? figurative or literal? Find examples of alliteration, of onomatopia, of all the figures of speech that you can find here.
Do the figures of speech make the idea clearer? more beautiful? more impressive? Make a list of five or six of the most effective scenes and decide whether they are effective because of their beauty, their pathos, their horror, or for some other reason.
THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THE AUTHOR.--What do we know of Coleridge's childhood? his school days? his college experiences? his struggles to get on in the world? his radical opinions? his acquaintance with Wordsworth? with Southey? his success as a poet? his other literary work? his domestic life? his decline?