Applied English 11 Lesson 2

Applied English 11 Course
Lesson 2 : The Play of Words

Introduction:
Your last lesson introduced you to the magical world of words that is poetry. This lesson expands your understanding of poetry by probing deeper into that world. You will read more about the techniques that poets use in order to convey their thoughts and feelings so that you will be able to interpret poems on your own.

Your aims: * Identify figurative language used in a poem * Distinguish between connotative and denotative meanings of words * Interpret a poem

Poets paint word pictures
When poets set out to describe a scene, an object, a bird or animal, they want us to be able to picture in our minds what they have seen. This is the artistry of poetry. The poet must find words, sounds, comparisons, rhythms and a structure that combine to stimulate our imagination to stimulate our imagination so that we can respond to what the poet has experienced.

Our response to a poem will also be affected by our own past experiences. The way we react to a poem is partly a reflection of who we are and how we feel.

Read the poem “Be specific” by Mauree Applegate and the discussion that follows. As you read, try to complete the short activities that are integrated within the discussion.

Be specific
Don’t say you saw a bird; you saw a swallow,
Or a great horned owl, a hawk or oriole.

Don’t just tell me that he flew;
That’s what any bird can do;
Say he darted, circled, swooped, or lilted in the blue.

Don’t say the sky behind the bird was pretty;
It was watermelon pink streaked through with gold;
Gold bubbled like a fountain
From a pepperminted mountain
And shone like Persian rugs when they are old.

Don’t tell me that the air was sweet with fragrance;
Say it smelled of minted grass and lilac bloom;
Don’t say your heart was swinging;
Name the tune that it was singing,
And how the moonlight’s neon filled the room.

Don’t say the evening creatures all were playing;
Mention tree toad’s twanging, screeching fiddle notes.
Picture cricket’s constant strumming
To the mass mosquitoes humming
While the frogs are singing bass deep in their throats.

Don’t use a word that’s good for all the senses
There’s a word for every feeling one can feel
If you’d want your lines terrific
Then do make your words specific
For words can paint a picture that is real. The messages brought by the senses. Are among life’s greatest recompenses.
Mauree Applegate
Techniques of the Poet
1. Words
All the poets have to work with is words. They work hard to create wonderful images and ideas. In the poem, the poet tells us to use specific words. For example, look at stanza 1 line 2, which mentions breeds of birds swallow, horned owl, hawk or oriole instead of general words (birds).

Activity 1. Identify other examples from the poem of this technique.
General Specific
Flew _______________________________________
Pretty _______________________________________
Sweet with fragrance _______________________________________

Poets choose words because of their connotation (the idea or feelings evoked by a word) instead of merely their denotation (literal or dictionary meaning of a word). In the poem, the word gold in the 3rd stanza line 3 does not mean the precious metal used in jewelry. Instead it is used to evoke warmth especially since it is bubbling gold, a more vivid way of describing the sky.

2. Sounds
A poet can use alliteration, assonance or onomatopoeia in order to create beautiful sounding words.
Alliteration is the repetition of the same letter of sound at the beginning of two or more words in a line of poetry. For example, the second line in the 5th stanza repeats the letter “t”: tree toad’s twanging. Another example is the last line of the 6th stanza: paint a picture where the letter “p” is repeated.
Assonance is the repetition of the same vowel sound followed by different consonant sounds. (air was sweet with fragrance)
Onomatopoeia is a word that suggest the sound of the action they are describing (screeching, humming)

3. Comparisons
In order to create better images in the minds of a reader, a poet uses comparisons.
Similes are comparisons that use like, as or than. The comparison is not between things of the same kind but between things that are different. Go back again to the 3rd stanza of the poem. The line gold bubbled like a fountain compares gold to a fountain.
Metaphors, like similes also make a comparison not by saying that one thing is like or as another but by asking us to picture it as though it is the other thing. The comparison is more direct than with a simile. The line watermelon pink streaked with gold did not compare the sky to a watermelon using like or as. Instead, it mentions that the sky is watermelon pink
Personification is a special kind of metaphor in which human qualities are given to non-living things. In the 5th stanza, the line While the frogs are singing bass deep in their throats describes frogs as having the voice to sing, which is an ability of humans.

4. Rhythms
Rhythm refers to the beat or patterns of stresses in poetry. It is a vital part of a poet’s craft, for the rhythm can be used to give variety of effect. Usually, we can feel the rhythm best when we read aloud. Try to read the poem aloud. Is the rhythm of the poem fast or slow?
Rhymes, on the other hand, can be seen in the similarity of end sounds of words at the end of lines. Two consecutive lines may rhyme or alternate lines may rhyme.
(flew-blue; fountain-mountain; gold-old)
Activity 2. Here are a few more words from the poem. Look for the words in the poem that rhyme with them.
Bloom - __________ swinging - __________ notes - _______________

Conclusion:
As readers, we get a glimpse of the poets’ minds through the words they use. Through the poets’ skills of describing their images, thoughts and feelings, we as readers can understand what they want to express.

As readers, do not see exactly what the poet sees. Instead, our interpretation of a poem will be helped by our understanding of the techniques that a poet uses. Together with this knowledge, we also bring into the interpretation our own experiences, thoughts and feelings about the topic of a poem.

Summary
In this lesson, you have seen how important it was for a poet to choose his words and meanings carefully. You also read and studied the different techniques that a poet uses in order to convey his meaning in an extraordinary way. Now you will do some exercises in order to reinforce what you have learned.
Practice Exercise 2
A. Identify what each description refers to. Terms can be found in your lesson.

______________________1. refers to the beat or patterns of stresses in poetry

______________________2. repetition of the same vowel sound followed by different consonant sounds

______________________3. a special kind of metaphor in which human qualities are given to non-living things.

______________________4. a word that suggest the sound of the action they are describing

______________________5. the idea or feelings evoked by a word

B. Below are some lines from different poems. Identify what figurative language is used in the lines. Write:
S – Simile P – Personification AS – Assonance
M – Metaphor AL – Alliteration O - Onomatopoeia

______6. “The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew The furrow followed free”

______7. “The sun, like a man in a crowd at a puppet show Endearing to get a peep between the unmannerly clouds”

______8. “Time had fallen asleep in the afternoon sunshine”

______9. “The beach is a quarter of golden fruit, A soft ripe melon sliced to a half moon curve”

______10. “The ice was all around: It cracked and growled, and roared and howled”

C. Read the poem “My Land” by Yanopa Kai and answer the questions that follow.
MY LAND
My blood:
Rivers, lakes, lagoons, wells,
Lying in craters,
Roaring from caves
Falling from mountains
Silent to the sea.
My flesh:
Grass, trees, moss, vine
Creeping, coiling
Blooming, bearing
Fruit and tubers, multifold.

My bone:
Rocks, mountains, caves, cliffs
Small gentle,
Rugged smooth.

My blood,
You give this precious food.
My flesh,
You tie with powerful strings.
My bone,
You were the first I touched.
Live blood, flesh, bone.
I will live forever in my land. - Yanopa Kai

11. Using the words blood, flesh and bone to describe the different parts of the poet’s land means that
a. the land is not important to the poet c. the land is part of the poet
b. the land is a living thing d. the land is a non-living thing

12. An example of alliteration that can be found in the poem is
a. Live blood, flesh, bone c. small gentle, rugged smooth
b. creeping coiling, blooming, bearing d. grass trees moss vine

13. All these techniques can be found in the poem except
a. onomatopoeia b. metaphor c. rhythm d. alliteration

14. The poet wants to convey feelings of _____________ about his land
a. disdain b. shame c. embarrassment d. pride

15. The blood, flesh and bone of the land in the poem refers to
a. bodies of water, plant life and people c. people, plant life and land
b. bodies of water, plant life and land formations d. people, water and land

* End of the exercises –

Answers
Activity 1.
General Specific
Flew darted, circled, swooped, or lilted in the blue.
Pretty watermelon pink streaked through with gold
Sweet with fragrance minted grass and lilac bloom

Activity 2
Bloom - room swinging – singing notes - throats

Practice Exercise 2
A.
1. rhythm
2. assonance
3. personification
4. onomatopoeia
5. connotation

B.
6. AL 7. S 8. P 9. M 10. O

C. .
11. C 12. B 13. A 14. D 15. A

References:

Sadler R. and Sadler S., 2011. Move Into English 3. South Yarra, Macmillan Education Australia Pty Ltd., p. 136

Sadler R. and Sadler S., 2011. Into English. South Yarra, Macmillan Education Australia Pty Ltd., p. 140-145

References: Sadler R. and Sadler S., 2011. Move Into English 3. South Yarra, Macmillan Education Australia Pty Ltd., p. 136 Sadler R. and Sadler S., 2011. Into English. South Yarra, Macmillan Education Australia Pty Ltd., p. 140-145