This semester has greatly contributed to my English skills, especially in the analysis of poetry and learning to write based on ideas instead of devices. Before this year, my experience in poetry has been greatly limited as in AP Comp we focused on novel and play excerpts. No matter what experience I was with poetry I always enjoyed it and the presentation projects that we have had this semester has allowed to research and understand how the special formats of poetry contribute to the meaning and complexity. Unfortunately, while I learned a great deal about certain types of poetry such as the ballad and free verse poems, I did not retain very much from some other presentations besides the general formatting. To make sure I am capable of understanding any poem I come across I need to further research myself other types of poems and know how their special nuances contribute to meaning. The presentation projects have also helped me with the way I write essays in general. Previously, when during timed essays and not having enough time to through think through what I need to say, I would automatically slip into the general three body paragraph structure. I now know that this type of writing limits the depth of my analysis as I could not easily relate the devices I spoke about in each paragraph. By organizing my thoughts into idea categories instead, I can now show how all literary devices contribute to the many ideas that an author is trying to convey. Something I still need to work on, however, is the conciseness of my papers. Although I am able to better organize my thoughts and find complexities through connections of ideas I am still finding it hard to put my thoughts into the right words. My group's thesis statements over the semester have been very long, almost paragraph length and although sometimes it is necessary to utilize that many words I should still be able to condense the points I wish to make and then elaborate on them later.
One thing I have enjoyed this semester is the connection between the poems we studied and different fairy tales and myths. When we analyze such poems it is easy to see where the author inspiration has come from and the common themes that run through certain eras. The hero's archetypal journey is another thing I have enjoyed learning about. It seems like a very specific concept with the different steps that all hero's go through but it is extremely applicable to many, many different situations.
Although I have gotten though the surface of many different components of the analysis and understanding of literature I still have a lot to work. I need to work on being more independent with analyzing, coming up with more ideas before consulting my group, I need to work on looking for the details and underlying themes that make up complexity, and especially the fluidity of my writing.
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Blog #14: Paired Poems Group Presentation
Initial Essay
Helen was supposedly the most beautiful woman in Greece, who's face was said "to launch a thousand ships". This phrase coming from how Prince Paris of Troy saw Helen's beauty and took her for his own starting the ten year long Trojan War. The poems "To Helen" by Edgar Allen Poe and "Helen" by Eliza Doolittle both speak about Helen's beauty but the difference between the usages of diction, rhyme, and syntax create two entirely different attitudes.
The most obvious difference between the two poems is the diction choices. In "To Helen" Poe uses many Grecian references, alliteration, and speech much like that of Shakespearean times. This choice in diction relates "To Helen" to odes and sonnets even though the structure is not necessarily the same. Poe's choice in words also create a longing tone when speaking of Helen, making her beauty an aspiration. In "Helen", however, Helen's beauty is still an aspiration, they still want to keep it in statue form but Doolittle's choice of harsh, blunt words create the negative atmosphere around Helen, giving us reason to dislike Helen.
The rhyme scheme of each poem also conveys the tones and attitudes of each author towards them. Poe's consistent rhyme scheme creates a flowing voice throughout his poem along with the diction and syntax again creating the positive atmosphere around Helen. Doolittle, however, uses a few slant rhymes with very little true rhymes at all which adds to the harshness of her words.
Another component that separates the two poems is the syntactical choices. Poe's poem completes phrases while Doolittle's broken structures make us feel as if she were too angry to speak fluidly, adding emotion into her poem and forming the tone.
The flowing versus blunt diction, consistent in contrast to non consistent rhyme scheme, and fluid versus broken syntax both convey the beauty of Helen wth very different attitudes and tones.
Powerpoint
Tone Shifts
Annotations/ Close Reading/ Notes
Helen was supposedly the most beautiful woman in Greece, who's face was said "to launch a thousand ships". This phrase coming from how Prince Paris of Troy saw Helen's beauty and took her for his own starting the ten year long Trojan War. The poems "To Helen" by Edgar Allen Poe and "Helen" by Eliza Doolittle both speak about Helen's beauty but the difference between the usages of diction, rhyme, and syntax create two entirely different attitudes.
The most obvious difference between the two poems is the diction choices. In "To Helen" Poe uses many Grecian references, alliteration, and speech much like that of Shakespearean times. This choice in diction relates "To Helen" to odes and sonnets even though the structure is not necessarily the same. Poe's choice in words also create a longing tone when speaking of Helen, making her beauty an aspiration. In "Helen", however, Helen's beauty is still an aspiration, they still want to keep it in statue form but Doolittle's choice of harsh, blunt words create the negative atmosphere around Helen, giving us reason to dislike Helen.
The rhyme scheme of each poem also conveys the tones and attitudes of each author towards them. Poe's consistent rhyme scheme creates a flowing voice throughout his poem along with the diction and syntax again creating the positive atmosphere around Helen. Doolittle, however, uses a few slant rhymes with very little true rhymes at all which adds to the harshness of her words.
Another component that separates the two poems is the syntactical choices. Poe's poem completes phrases while Doolittle's broken structures make us feel as if she were too angry to speak fluidly, adding emotion into her poem and forming the tone.
The flowing versus blunt diction, consistent in contrast to non consistent rhyme scheme, and fluid versus broken syntax both convey the beauty of Helen wth very different attitudes and tones.
Powerpoint
Tone Shifts
Annotations/ Close Reading/ Notes
Blog #13: Paired Poems Revision (Chimney Sweeper)
The chimney sweepers of the late 18th century held a dangerous job, to be pushed down inside chimneys with brushes and bags so as to clean their interiors. Unfortunately, many of the chimney sweeps were children as they were the only ones who could squeeze into such tight places, and not knowing of the health dangers of continuous exposure to ash and smoke trusted their parents and did as they were told. Both of William Blake's poems that comment on this job utilize very similar rhyme scheme, diction, and syntax but the subtle differences between the two contribute the two different viewpoints of the poems. The first poem showing innocence and naivety, the second more mature and experienced.
In the first of Blake's poems, an "aabb" rhyme scheme is used in each stanza, while in the second poem "aabb" is used in the first stanza, but the second and third uses an "abab" pattern. The rhyming of the words adds an element of youth, which is what Blake is trying to do as he is speaking through the mouths of children in each poem. In the first poem however, the child is more innocent, doing his duty because they trust the adults and the "Angel" that tell them everything is going to be great and that the child and his comrades will be free and happy. In the second poem the child has seemed to have grown up more, he now knows that being a chimney sweeper is not something to be grateful for, but he assumes his parents do not notice the hardship "[doing him] no injury" (poem 2, line 10). He still trusts his parents but has experience to not be as naive as before. The rhyme scheme matches this difference between the children's perspectives as in the first poem the pattern makes the speech of the child seem shorter with more simple phrases, as if he does not generally compose complex thoughts, and each thought is sectioned into its own rhyming couplet. The rhyme pattern of the second poem, however, makes it seems like each stanza is a complete thought as the beginning lines are connected to the last. This difference in the rhyme patterns of each poem contribute to the image of the speaker in each instance and help convey the different messages of innocence and experience,
The diction and syntax in each poem also separate the messages in each poem. The first poem contains many blunt and direct words, outright telling us what has happened, there are not very many emotional adjectives for tone so the tone can be viewed as more objective or neutral. The second poem, though also containing rather simple words, uses more serious tone words such as "death", "woe", "injury", and "misery". Instead of the indifference of innocence we can see the speaker feels very negatively about the job that he must do. The difference in diction also conveys to us the difference between the naivety of the first child in comparison to the experience of the second.
Blake's usage of rhyme scheme, diction, and syntax help him to convey the naivety in the first poem with the child who is less mature, and the learning and experience of the child in the second poem. This shows the complexity of the time period where the job of chimney sweeps were common.
In the first of Blake's poems, an "aabb" rhyme scheme is used in each stanza, while in the second poem "aabb" is used in the first stanza, but the second and third uses an "abab" pattern. The rhyming of the words adds an element of youth, which is what Blake is trying to do as he is speaking through the mouths of children in each poem. In the first poem however, the child is more innocent, doing his duty because they trust the adults and the "Angel" that tell them everything is going to be great and that the child and his comrades will be free and happy. In the second poem the child has seemed to have grown up more, he now knows that being a chimney sweeper is not something to be grateful for, but he assumes his parents do not notice the hardship "[doing him] no injury" (poem 2, line 10). He still trusts his parents but has experience to not be as naive as before. The rhyme scheme matches this difference between the children's perspectives as in the first poem the pattern makes the speech of the child seem shorter with more simple phrases, as if he does not generally compose complex thoughts, and each thought is sectioned into its own rhyming couplet. The rhyme pattern of the second poem, however, makes it seems like each stanza is a complete thought as the beginning lines are connected to the last. This difference in the rhyme patterns of each poem contribute to the image of the speaker in each instance and help convey the different messages of innocence and experience,
The diction and syntax in each poem also separate the messages in each poem. The first poem contains many blunt and direct words, outright telling us what has happened, there are not very many emotional adjectives for tone so the tone can be viewed as more objective or neutral. The second poem, though also containing rather simple words, uses more serious tone words such as "death", "woe", "injury", and "misery". Instead of the indifference of innocence we can see the speaker feels very negatively about the job that he must do. The difference in diction also conveys to us the difference between the naivety of the first child in comparison to the experience of the second.
Blake's usage of rhyme scheme, diction, and syntax help him to convey the naivety in the first poem with the child who is less mature, and the learning and experience of the child in the second poem. This shows the complexity of the time period where the job of chimney sweeps were common.
Blog #12: Paired Poems Benchmark Essay & Reflection (Chimney Sweeper)
The chimney sweepers of the late 18th century held a dangerous job, to be pushed down inside chimneys with brushes and bags so as to clean their interiors. Unfortunately, many of the chimney sweeps were children as they were the only ones who could squeeze into such tight places, and not knowing of the health dangers of continuous exposure to ash and smoke trusted their parents and did as they were told. Both of William Blake's poems that comment on this job utilize very similar rhyme scheme, diction, and syntax but the subtle differences between the two contribute the two different viewpoints of the poems. The first poem showing innocence and naivety, the second more mature and experienced.
In the first of Blake's poems, an "aabb" rhyme scheme is used in each stanza, while in the second poem "aabb" is used in the first stanza, but the second and third uses an "abab" pattern. The rhyming of the words adds an element of youth, which is what Blake is trying to do as he is speaking through the mouths of children in each poem. In the first poem however, the child is more innocent, doing his duty because they trust the adults and the Angel that tell them everything is going to be great and that the child and his comrades will be free and happy. In the second poem the child has seemed to have grown up more, he now knows that being a chimney sweeper is not something to be grateful for, but he assumes his parents do not notice the hardship "[doing him] no injury" (poem 2, line 10). He still trusts his parents but has experience to not be as naive as before. The rhyme scheme matches this difference between the children's perspectives as in the first poem the pattern makes the speech of the child seem shorter with more simple phrases, as if he does not generally compose complex thoughts, and each thought is sectioned into its own rhyming couplet. The rhyme pattern of the second poem, however, makes it seems like each stanza is a complete thought as the beginning lines are connected to the last. This difference in the rhyme patterns of each poem contribute to the image of the speaker in each instance and help convey the different messages of innocence and experience,
The diction and syntax in each poem also separate the messages in each poem. The first poem contains many blunt and direct words, outright telling us what has happened, there are not very many emotional adjectives for tone so the tone can be viewed as more objective or neutral. The second poem, though also containing rather simple words, uses more serious words such as "death", "woe", "injury", and "misery". Instead of the indifference of innocence we can see the speaker feels very negatively about the job that he must do. The difference in diction also conveys to us the difference between the naivety of the first child in comparison to the experience of the second.
Reflection:
I would grade myself a 5 or possibly a 4. My analysis of the two poems is good but could have been more specific. I can work on having a deeper analysis citing more literary devices in comparison to my more shallow analysis. I can also work on smoother transitions in y writing, in this instance referring to each poem was hard considering that the had the same title and were written by the same person. Consequently i referred to each poem by order which did not complicate things too much by my writing could have been smoother. I need to work on my wording skills in order to better convey what I want to say.
In the first of Blake's poems, an "aabb" rhyme scheme is used in each stanza, while in the second poem "aabb" is used in the first stanza, but the second and third uses an "abab" pattern. The rhyming of the words adds an element of youth, which is what Blake is trying to do as he is speaking through the mouths of children in each poem. In the first poem however, the child is more innocent, doing his duty because they trust the adults and the Angel that tell them everything is going to be great and that the child and his comrades will be free and happy. In the second poem the child has seemed to have grown up more, he now knows that being a chimney sweeper is not something to be grateful for, but he assumes his parents do not notice the hardship "[doing him] no injury" (poem 2, line 10). He still trusts his parents but has experience to not be as naive as before. The rhyme scheme matches this difference between the children's perspectives as in the first poem the pattern makes the speech of the child seem shorter with more simple phrases, as if he does not generally compose complex thoughts, and each thought is sectioned into its own rhyming couplet. The rhyme pattern of the second poem, however, makes it seems like each stanza is a complete thought as the beginning lines are connected to the last. This difference in the rhyme patterns of each poem contribute to the image of the speaker in each instance and help convey the different messages of innocence and experience,
The diction and syntax in each poem also separate the messages in each poem. The first poem contains many blunt and direct words, outright telling us what has happened, there are not very many emotional adjectives for tone so the tone can be viewed as more objective or neutral. The second poem, though also containing rather simple words, uses more serious words such as "death", "woe", "injury", and "misery". Instead of the indifference of innocence we can see the speaker feels very negatively about the job that he must do. The difference in diction also conveys to us the difference between the naivety of the first child in comparison to the experience of the second.
Reflection:
I would grade myself a 5 or possibly a 4. My analysis of the two poems is good but could have been more specific. I can work on having a deeper analysis citing more literary devices in comparison to my more shallow analysis. I can also work on smoother transitions in y writing, in this instance referring to each poem was hard considering that the had the same title and were written by the same person. Consequently i referred to each poem by order which did not complicate things too much by my writing could have been smoother. I need to work on my wording skills in order to better convey what I want to say.
Blog #9: Poetry Forms Powerpoint
"Lord Randall" Powerpoint
Tone Shifts Chart
Close Reading
Tone Shifts Chart
Close Reading
Storyboards
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