Transcript Unit 3: Interpretations of Prose and Poetry

Unit 3:
Interpretations of
Prose and Poetry
Analysis Skills:
Diction/ Vocabulary – why this word
rather than that?
Miss McClue
Starter:
‘The Eagle’ – Alfred Tennyson
What is your first response?
He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ringed with the azure world, he stands.
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.
Then consider:
• How the words combine
to create meanings
• How they create
pictures in your mind
• How they work upon
your feelings
• How they are organised
to give the poem shape
Learning Objective
To explore the
impact and
significance of
diction within a
poem.
Key Words:
Rhythms
Consonance
Assonance
Connotation
Denote
Words and the wonderfully illustrious and illuminating imagination
WORDS CAN:
[Literal]
DENOTE
[Figurative]
Vs. CONNOTE
blue
Town / City
Clever / Wise
Jester / Clown
Light / Glow
pink
DICTION and CONNOTATION
THE WORDS CHOSEN
THE FEELINGS, EMOTIONS
BY THE AUTHOR FOR
AND CULTURAL IDEAS
SPECIFIC EFFECT
ASSOCIATED WITH WORDS
LET’S APPLY THIS TO A QUICK STUDY OF TWO
ee cummings
i am so glad and very
i am so glad and very
merely my fourth will cure
the laziest self of weary
the hugest sea of shore
so far your nearness reaches
a lucky fifth of you
turns people into eachs
and cowards into grow
our can'ts were born to happen
our mosts have died in more
our twentieth will open
wide a wide open door
we are so both and oneful
night cannot be so sky
sky cannot be so sunful
i am through you so i
W. B. Yeats
When you are old
When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows
deep;
How many loved your moments of glad
grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;
And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
i am so glad and very
ee cummings
i am so glad and very
merely my fourth will cure
the laziest self of weary
the hugest sea of shore
so far your nearness reaches
a lucky fifth of you
turns people into eachs
and cowards into grow
our can'ts were born to happen
our mosts have died in more
our twentieth will open
wide a wide open door
we are so both and oneful
night cannot be so sky
sky cannot be so sunful
i am through you so i
When you are old
W. B. Yeats
When you are old and grey and full of
sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this
book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows
deep;
How many loved your moments of glad
grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or
true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing
face;
And bending down beside the glowing
bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
How do you feel about words?
WORD
How important is
the CONTEXT
of words?
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Snarl
Clap
Hearth
Pillow
Omen
Slimy
Feather
Glue
Pub
Brothel
11
12
13
14
15
Divine
Owl
Flamingo
Illuminate
Descend
Associations
negative
Vicious; Angry; fangs; wolf; dark thoughts
What are we learning here?
• DICTION (word choice) is a poet’s most
obvious yet most subtle form of expression.
• The CONNOTATIONS of words (diction) are
partly from the Culture around us, and partly
from your experiences and imagination.
• HOWEVER:
• Can we decide upon the TONE/MOOD based
upon the DICTION a poet uses?
• What other evidence is there but the words!!?
Activity
• Write a short analysis of the way in which
either poet creates meaning in their
respective poem. Include comments on how
the connotations and the sounds of the words
help to convey the poem’s theme.
Plenary
Reflect on the ‘sound of words’, the reason,
perhaps, why we have some word associations.
SHARP sounds and soft SOUNDS of phonetics,
letter combinations and the importance of tone.
REMEMBER that TONE is linked to the DICTION.