Wednesday, April 27 continuing with Spoon River performances

Learning Targets: I can cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.

I can determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone.

I can demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics. 

I can write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.

 English III   periods 3 and 8- continuing with presentations.

period 6: Paul Laurence Dunbar's The Mask  

in class work; copy below.

Name_____________________

Please complete an analysis of the following poem using the “TIPCASTT” METHOD OF POETRY ANALYSIS.  This will help you integrate the literal and figurative meanings conveyed by a poem into a coherent understanding of the poem, highlighted by an understanding of the literary devices that helped the poem’s purpose to be realized.  

I have made an organizer to assist you. This will be collected at the beginning of class on Thursday, April 27.

We Wear the Mask

BY PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR

We wear the mask that grins and lies,

It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—

This debt we pay to human guile;

With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,

And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be over-wise,

In counting all our tears and sighs?

Nay, let them only see us, while

       We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries

To thee from tortured souls arise.

We sing, but oh the clay is vile

Beneath our feet, and long the mile;

But let the world dream otherwise,

       We wear the mask!

STEP 1: TITLE. Write the title and author of the poem:_______________________________________________by_________________________________ Then, predict what the poem will be about: __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________

STEP 2: PARAPHRASE

 Silently read the poem. Then, with a partner, each of you read the poem aloud, following along as the other reads. Finally, restate its literal meaning in your own words on the following lines. Write at least one sentence for each stanza of the poem, capturing all of its literal ideas: __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________

 STEP 3: CONNOTATION.

Reread the poem and state its point of view. (1^st person singular / plural, 3^rd person limited, 3^rdperson omniscient)

Then, reread the poem, looking for rhyming patterns. What is the rhyme pattern, if any? A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem or song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme; lines designated with the same letter all rhyme with each other.  Example: 

______________________________________________________________________

Next, look for especially significant or unusual words in the poem. Why were they included? What meaning do they convey?

Word Line # Why included/Meaning

Word/ line #	Why included?	Meaning?

Step 4:

Look for examples of poetic devices in the poem. Describe these devices. How do such devices aid the poem in achieving its poetic effects?

Look for: simile(compares two things using like or as), metaphor (a connection between two unlike things); personification (human characteristics to inanimate objects, animals, or ideas), hyperbole(outrageous exaggeration); litotes (ironical understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary (e.g., you won't be sorry, meaning you'll be glad ), synecdoche (a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa, as in Cleveland won by six runs (meaning “Cleveland's baseball team”); symbolism (word which has meaning in itself but is used to represent something entirely different), alliteration (repetition of the first consonant sounds), assonance (repetition of a vowel sound e.g., penitence, reticence ).- idiom (expression that has a meaning that is only known to a particular group of people. For example: kick the bucket; raining cats and dogs); onomatopoeia(words that sound like their meaning, or mimic sounds); oxymoron (two seemingly contradictory elements, such as "wise fool," "jumbo shrimp" or "icy hot."); imagery (detailed description which incorporates the five senses -- sight, sound, smell, taste and touch)

 Note these examples below. 1.________________________________________________________________________________ 2_____________________________________________________________________________
3________________________________________________________________________________ 4________________________________________________________________________________

 STEP 5. SHIFT. Rarely does a poet begin and end the poetic experience in the same place. Discovery of a poet’s understanding of an experience is critical to the understanding of a poem. Trace the feelings of the speaker from the beginning to the end, paying particular attention to the conclusion. Look for the following to find shifts: 1. Key words (but, yet, however, although) 2. Punctuation (dashes, periods, colons, ellipsis) 3. Stanza division 4. Changes in line or stanza length or both.

Key words	Punctuation/ after?	Stanza division/ how?	Changes stanza / line length

Look over the above chart you created. Write two sentences about why you think the poet made particular choices.

________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________         

Step 6

Write the theme of the poem in a complete sentence. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________