9.2 Johnson

Learning Objectives

• By the end of class, students will:

  • Define and identify key literary terms:

    • Stanza

    • Personification

    • Anthropomorphism

  • Dissect and understand metaphors.

  • Apply new vocabulary in close reading.

  • Record rhyme schemes (time permitting).

Housekeeping

• Important dates to remember:

  • Nov. 20: Presentation on "Alexis' Fifteen Dogs"

  • Nov. 22: Submission due for Essay #2.

Tip of the Day: Subject-Verb Agreement

• Subject-verb agreement is crucial in sentence construction:

  • A singular subject must have a singular verb.

  • A plural subject must have a plural verb.

Analyzing Literature

• Literature examples and notes on agreement:

  • "Station Eleven" and "The Marrow Thieves" explore the theme of civilization collapse:

    • "Station Eleven" narrates events across three non-chronological time periods: pre-apocalypse, apocalypse, and post-apocalypse.

    • Miigwans, a character from "The Marrow Thieves," symbolizes the past loss by keeping a vial of his partner's remains.

Connections and Analysis

• Continuous examination of character beliefs leads to:

  • Analyzing Miigwans’ philosophy reveals alignment with Kantian ethics, focusing on intention versus action, similar to Michael Sandel's interpretations.

Understanding Stanzas

• Definition of a stanza in poetry:

  • A group of lines that form the basic unit of a poem.

  • Specific types of stanzas include:

    • Couplet: 2 lines

    • Quatrain: 4 lines

    • Sestet: 6 lines

    • Octave: 8 lines

Exploring Personification

• Personification elevates literary imagery by attributing human traits to non-human elements:

  • Example phrases:

    • "sombre pines a lullaby intone" (line 12)

    • Queries about the animate vs. inanimate:

      • Are trees animate or inanimate?

    • Other usages: "Nature’s children" (line 13), "Nature’s pulse" (line 35), and "Freedom’s arms" (line 36).

Anthropomorphism

• Definition: Assigning human characteristics to non-human entities, especially animals or deities.

  • Example phrases:

    • "they sing / Te Deums to the night" (lines 7-8)

    • "Strange black and princely pirates of the skies" (line 31).

Understanding Metaphors

• Definition: An implicit comparison without using "like" or "as."

  • Key components of metaphor:

    • Tenor: The subject being discussed.

    • Vehicle: The term that depicts the idea.

    • Grounds: Connection or associations between tenor and vehicle.

  • Example:

    • "Strange black and princely pirates of the skies, Would that your wind-tossed travels I could know!" (lines 31-32).

Understanding Rhyme

• Definition: Repetition of the same or similar sounds in close proximity, focusing on stressed sounds from words.

  • Common examples include:

    • Bore/Snore; Labour/Tiber.

  • Types of Rhyme:

    • Perfect Rhyme: exact matching sounds.

    • Imperfect Rhyme: approximate match (slant rhyme, e.g., Boat/Bet).

    • Eye Rhyme: visual similarities but different sounds (e.g., Bough/Through).

Teamwork on Rhyme Analysis

• Tasks:

  • Identify the rhyme scheme present in "The Flight of the Crows."

  • Assign stanzas to teams with designated themes (e.g., Yoda, Unicorn, Shakespeare, etc.).

Exploring Rhythm

• Definition: Rhythm in poetry and prose arises from the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables.

Poetic Atmosphere

• Discussion Questions:

  • How do rhyme and rhythm contribute to the overall atmosphere and emotional tone of the poem?

Alliteration

• Definition: A literary device where consonant sounds are repeated at the start of words in close succession.

  • Example: "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers."

Upcoming Assignments

• Review assigned reading for next class:

  • DU FU's "THE SOLITARY GOOSE."