SOW Literary Response Essay

SOW Literary Response Essay

HA English 9

OReilly

 

You will write a 5-6 paragraph essay responding to the following prompt:

How does Yukio Mishima, author of The Sound of Waves, use literary devices to support the themes of the text?

 

Remember that you must state your theme as an insight on life, a rule for living, or an eternal truth about human existence; therefore, a theme is never one word. A theme, since it is a concept, must be a sentence. You may use one of the following themes or ferret out your own insights embedded in the text:

 

 

The natural state of human beings is to be essentially good; therefore, the noblest characters in the text The Sound of Waves have the closest ties to nature.

 

When people are essentially good and brave, they learn from their mistakes and make amends to those they have harmed.

 

Noble characters lack ego and are not concerned with their appearance, possessions, or the opinions of others; consequently, such noble souls selflessly serve others to the benefit of society.

 

Karma is at work in people’s lives, so selfless, courageous deeds are rewarded in the end, and selfishness and cowardice are punished with regret and personal pain.

 

 

You will need to modify these themes to turn them into thesis statements:

 

In the text, Sound of Waves by Yokio Mishima, karma is at work in people’s lives, so selfless, courageous deeds are rewarded in the end, and selfishness and cowardice are punished with regret and personal pain: therefore, Shinji and Hatsua, are rewarded for their selfless acts, while Chiyoko and Yasuo suffer for theirs.

 

 Your paper will show how literary devices such as imagery, characters, metaphors, simile, personification support the themes. You may also discuss how motifs, repeating elements in the texts, reinforce and support the themes. Some motifs in Sound of Waves are nature, (waves, animals, insects, seaweed etc.) spirituality, selflessness, ego, karma, courage/cowardice, honour, self awareness, pessimism, optimism, simplicity, male/female roles, gossip, city life, thought, beauty, dirtiness, education.

 

The first phase of your paper will be to write your opening paragraph. Your opening paragraph will need background, a brief statement introducing the author and the text. Please colour code your paragraph (background, blue; thesis/plan, green). Limit your background to three sentences or less. In the background you may discuss:

            • The year the text was published

            • a very brief summary of the story

            • A brief statement about the tone or theme you will discuss.

 

Your opening paragraph must also present your plan as either part of your thesis or as a separate sentence.

 

 

 

 

Here is an opening paragraph for a thematic essay about To Kill a Mockingbird:

 

To Kill a Mockingbird, a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Harper Lee published in 1960, was instantly successful and has become a classic of modern American fiction. The novel is loosely based on the author's observations of her family and neighbors, as well as an event that occurred near her southern hometown in 1936 when she was 10 years old. The text was primarily successful due to its treatment of racial and class inequality in the south. The structure of the text, characters, metaphor, and simile reveal that racism is a form of ignorance and superstition.

 

In addition to writing your opening paragraph, make a brief outline of your key ideas including the literary devices that you will discuss. Here is an outline from the To Kill a Mockingbird essay:

 

I Structure

A.   Boo Radley is compared to Tom Robinson

B.    The rabid dog is compared to Bob Ewing

II. Characters

A.   Atticus is a model of tolerance

B.    Maudie is a model of a liberated female

C.    Bob Ewing is paragon of evil

II. metaphor and simile

A.   Sin to kill a mockingbird

B.    Squashing a bug is like killing Tom Robinson

 

 

Turn in your paper with both rubrics and your first draft.

10 points_________ Paper is properly formatted, has a clever title, and is 5-6 paragraphs. Paper is written in LP. There is an absence of mechanical and grammatical errors: CIE, CFB, RO, CS, SC, VPR. ANV

5 points _________ Your opening paragraph introduces the text and author and contains a brief background, a thesis statement, and a plan

30 points _________ Each body paragraph has a clear topic sentence. There are enough specific examples, explanations, and excerpts to support your topic sentence. Each body paragraph must have a properly formatted short quotation from the text gracefully inserted into the writing. No PQ please.

5 points _________  Your conclusion restates the key ideas of your paper without parroting your thesis statement. Rephrase your ideas bringing a freshness and a new twist.

20 points _________  You have the following types of sentences properly punctuated:

            You have two complex sentences: bold

                                    You have two compound sentences with a fan boy: bold underline

                                    You have two sentences with CNEs: bold italics

                                    You have two compound sentences with conjunctive adverbs: highlight

 

Timeline:

The opening paragraph and three body paragraph topic sentences are due _______________
The first draft, which must be typed and formatted is due _______________

The final draft is due ________________

Peer edit Sound of Waves
HA English 9
OReilly
Author’s name__________________
Peer editors__________________    __________________

Rank on a scale of 1-5.
Peer edit 1    peer edit 2
_________    _________  Paper is properly formatted and has a clever title
_________    _________  Your opening paragraph introduces the text and author
_________    _________  Each body paragraph must have a properly formatted short quotation from the text gracefully inserted into the writing. No PQ please. See example below.
Proper formatting for quotes: Quotes are “gracefully integrated,” and the commas and periods are inside the quote marks, except when there are parenthesis, like these (22).
_________     _________ You have the following types of sentences properly punctuated:
            You have two complex sentences: bold
            You have two compound sentences with a fan boy: bold underline
            You have two sentences with appositives: bold italics
            You have two compound sentences with conjunctive adverbs: highlight
   
Comments _________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

                                     

 

 

Tao Te Ching, by Lao Tsu

Tao Te Ching, by Lao Tsu

What is "Tao"?

The idea of Tao
Common dictionary translations of Tao include: road, path, way, means, doctrine. In the Tao Tee Ching, it is generally used to indicate the unseen, underlying law of the universe from which all other principles and phenomena proceed. It is described as unnamable, unfathomable and inexhaustible. Taoists attempt to be one with this principle.

Most of the Tao Te Ching describes the Tao and its manifestations so this is the best source for more detail. Since it cannot be understood on a merely intellectual level, it is best to feel the words in the Tao as well as understand them. Don't forget that the Tao is a poem. It even rhymes in many parts in the original Chinese. This may have been to make it easy to remember for illiterate people and it may also have been to help us feel the meaning rather than seek to intellectualize it.

In China, (Tao) is pronounced "dow", as in Dow Jones Index and "doe" in Japanese. You have probably heard of it already in words like :
Judo - "soft way"
Kendo - "sword way"
Karate - do - "empty hand way"

Eastern, Western, Taoist Logic

Western society strives to find "the truth," while Eastern society is more interested in balance. Westerners put more stock in individual rights; Easterners in social responsibility.

The symbol of the Tao (above) is an affront to the idea of truth in the common Western way of thinking. White lies inside black, black inside white. They are part of one another, constantly changing (indicated by the swirling shape), interdependent. There is no clear truth and therefore opinions have little value.

A Western version might look more like this: O O White circle - black circle. Static, separate. It is hard to say how much Eastern thinking was influenced by the Tao and how much the Tao was a product of a pre-existing thought.

Science
In the last 40 years, scientists have become increasingly aware of the idea of uncertainty. Chaos Theory, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle and Fuzzy Logic all helped destroy the earlier mechanistic view of the universe, that God created a universe that ran on tightly define principles that could be measured and predicted by science.

Your Tao Tr Ching Story
HA English 9
OReilly
45 points

In groups of 2-4:
Select a poem from the Tao Te Ching
Write a short story or parable in which the moral or theme of the story reflects and supports the poem you selected
Illustrate your story
Create a poster with your story and the illustration

5 points________ Include the poem on the front of your poster.
15 points________ Include your story on the front of your poster. Your story uses proper grammar, punctuation, and mechanics, and your story supports and illustrates the Tao Te Ching poem
10 points________Include your gorgeous and appropriate illustration on the front of your poster
5 points________Include your full names and period number on the front of your poster
5 points________ Include this rubric with your full names and period number lightly taped on the BACK of your poster
5 points ________ Your poster is gorgeous. Everything is well constructed and properly glued down.

Excerpts from Tao Te Ching:

Inflexible soldiers cannot win (a victory).
And the hardest trees are readiest for an axe to chop them down
Tough guys sink to the bottom, while
Flexible people rise to the top.

-Lao Tzu



If you don't trust people,
people will not trust you.

-Lao Tzu

Clay walls are moulded into a pot,
but the usefulness of the pot lies in its emptiness.

-Lao Tzu

A good door is locked without bolt or bar, but cannot be opened.
Good binding has no rope or knots, yet cannot be untied.

-Lao Tz

Great achievement looks incomplete, yet it works perfectly.
Great abundance looks like emptiness, yet its supply is never exhausted.

-Lao Tz

The softest thing can overcome the hardest,
Formless, it can enter where there are no gaps or space.
-Lao Tzu

Heaven and Earth last and last.
Why do they last so long?
Because they are not self-serving!
-Lao Tzu

Military strategists have a saying:
"Rather than act like the lord of the manor,
I would rather behave like a guest.
Rather than advance an inch,
I would rather retreat a foot."

The point of the saying is that you should:
Advance upon them without going forward
Seize their property without even bearing arms.
Attack where there is no enemy.
Prevail upon them without weapons.

-Lao Tz

Just as activity beats the cold,
and inactivity (stillness) beats the heat,
Purity and stillness can heal the world.

-Lao Tzu



A skilful soldier is not militaristic.
A skilful soldier does not get angry.
They win but do not seek to conquer.
Such capable people are humble.

-Lao Tzu

Deal with difficult tasks while they are easy.
Act on large issues while they are small.

-Lao Tzu

Great or small,
Frequent or rare,
respond to anger with virtue.
-Lao Tzu

When you value rare things highly,
you turn honest people into thieves.

If you show people exciting things,
you will make them covetous and greedy.

-Lao Tzu

If the people are free of avarice and desire,
even the most cunning grifter has no opportunity to corrupt them.

-Lao Tzu

Intelligent people know others.
Enlightened people know themselves.

You can conquer others with power,
But it takes true strength to conquer yourself.

-Lao Tzu

If you stand on tiptoe, you'll be unsteady.
If you run with long strides you can't keep it up.
If you show off, no one will be impressed.

-Lao Tzu

Even a nine-storied terrace began with a single basket of dirt.
Even a 1,000 mile journey began as a single step.


In ancient times there were great Taoist Sages.
Their way of living was so deep, so subtle,
it cannot be directly explained.
Instead, here is how they looked . . .

. . . Polite, as if they were always a guest
Yielding, like ice that is on the verge of melting
Sincere, like an uncut block of wood
Receptive, like a valley
Opaque, like muddy water

-Lao Tzu


Heaven and earth are like a set of bellows.
Although empty, they are endlessly productive.
The more you work them, the more they produce.
The mouth, on the other hand, becomes exhausted if you talk too much.
Better to keep your thoughts inside you.

-Lao Tzu


Rare goods are merely weights that slow you down.

-Lao Tzu



A virtuous person promotes agreement.
A person without virtue promotes blame.

-Lao Tzu


Heaven and Earth last and last.
Why do they last so long?
Because they are not self-serving!

-Lao Tzu


We desire to understand the world by giving names to the things we see,
but these things are only the effects of something subtle.

When we see beyond the desire to use names,
we can sense the nameless cause of these effects.

-Lao Tzu

Great or small,
Frequent or rare,
respond to anger with virtue.

-Lao Tzu

If you don’t trust people, people will not trust you.

-Lao Tzu


Be the leader, not the Lord.
This is the Way of Virtue (Te).

-Lao Tzu


If you stand on tiptoe, you'll be unsteady.
If you run with long strides you can't keep it up.
If you show off, no one will be impressed.

-Lao Tzu

Self-righteous people will be disrespected.
Self-centred people will be unloved.
Glory seekers don't attract followers.

-Lao Tzu

Nature rarely speaks.
A whirlwind doesn't even last a whole morning.
A rainstorm starts and ends in a single day.

Such things are made by heaven and earth.
If heaven and earth can't make a storm last,
how can you?

-Lao Tzu

No disaster is worse than being discontented.
No omen (for your future) worse than being greedy.
Yet, if you can find (true) contentment, it will last forever.

-Lao Tzu

Haiku: It’s the little things that count

Haiku: It’s the little things that count
Writing a haiku: group project
HA English 9
OReilly

What is haiku?
The shortest form of Japanese poetry constructed in three lines of five, seven, and five syllables respectively. The message of a haiku poem usually centers on some aspect of spirituality and provokes an emotional response in the reader. Early masters of haiku include Basho, Buson, Kobayashi Issa, and Masaoka Shiki. English writers of haiku include the Imagists, notably Ezra Pound, HD, Amy Lowell, Carl Sandburg, and William Carlos Williams. Haiku is Japanese Buddhist poetry designed to express and create the bliss and true knowledge of the divine.

English counts syllables differently than Japanese, so the syllable rules in English are not as strict. What is important is that there is a strong contrast, a mild surprise that occurs after the first or second line. There is a kind of pause first, then a very distinct change.

How nice to take a noonday nap
Feet planted against the wall.
How cool the wall

The surprise or change occurs in this haiku after the second line. The third line is not apparently relevant. Yet the reader recognizes the connection. This change, contrast, or juxtaposition surprises the reader, and moves her into a kind of recognition, a realization of the connectness of disparate aspects of nature. This is a kind of mini enlightenment created by the poem.

Winter storm:
The peering cat
Squints and blinks

What does a winter storm have to do with a cat?
Here the change or surprise is after the first line. The writer is explaining, in the briefest possible way, that tiny moment when he feels a certain enlightenment or connection with nature. In the few seconds it takes to write a three-line poem, the writer expresses the moment when he sees truth and beauty.

Stop to smell the roses:
Haikus are usually about everyday images or sights that remind us of the special moments that we ignore. These sights snap us out of our thoughts and remind us to be alive and in the moment. In the mundane, yet somehow striking image below, the change occurs after the first line.

 Breastfeeding her baby
The mother counts
All the flea bites



Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to:

• Get in groups of four and write four poems on a theme. For instance, the theme could be the seasons, and each poem would reflect one season. Other themes include times of day, emotions, phases of life, teen years, clothes, games, friends, phases of life, etc.

• Write your poem on construction paper, illustrate with any medium: drawing, collage etc.

• Tape your four haikus together to make a large poster.

• Make sure the following appears on your poster: your names, period number and haiku theme. You may add an extra strip of paper across the top or bottom for that information.

25Participation points:
8 points_________ You have four poems about one theme. (Unless you have a smaller group due to class size.)
3 points_________ Haiku are illustrated
3 points_________ Names, period number, and theme appear on the front of the poster.
4 points_________Haikus have three lines, and there is a pause or break and a “contrasting” image. See above
5 points_________ Posters are lovely
2 points _________ This rubric is lightly taped to the back with all your full names and period number










 

Mishima Power Point

Literary devices explanation and examples

Poetry devices (a major sampling):

homoeoteleuton

Similar sound endings to words, phrases, or sentences. "Near Rhyme."

• "That’s why, darling, it’s incredible

  That someone so unforgettable

  Thinks I’m unforgettable too."

  ("Unforgettable," sung by Nat King Cole)







• "Loose lips sink ships."

  (public service ad during World War II)

• 
  

• Incredibly, wonderfully, sensually delightful. Full of love, the sky above, can't get enough, of these. What is this thing of which I speak that fills my heart with ease? I'll tell you now. It's from the cow...this lovely creamy cheese. (OReilly)







• "Crispety, crunchety, peanut-buttery Butterfinger."

  (advertising slogan for Butterfinger candy bar)

It is defined as "when several utterances (i.e., words) end in a similar fashion." The word, therefore, is larger than rhyme, but similar to it.

repetition of sound: alliteration repetition of a beginning consonant sound; assonance: the repetition of vowel sounds; consonance: the repetition of consonant sounds

Langston Hughes

Dream Deferred

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?

Cha Cha Cha Changes with cheese, please, give it a squeeze...

So, so, very slimy, not sweet, sensually complete

A lust a trust I must repeat

I'm not complete, I can't go a week

without it to eat, my treat

need I repeat?

choice, cheddar, actual cheese.

ORiRi

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/d/david+bowie/changes_20036790.html

lyrics to Changes David Bowie

Parts by Tedd Arnold.

"I just don't know what's going on

Or why it has to be.

But every day it's something worse.

What's happening to me?

I think it was three days ago

I first became aware--

That in my comb were caught a couple

Pieces of my hair.

I stared at them, amazed, and more

Than just a bit appalled

To think that I was only five

And starting to go bald!"

allusion:

a casual reference to someone or something in history or literature that creates a mental picture. An allusion is like a hyperlink. Embedded in the poem is a link to another entire literary work, with all its meaning and insight. Here are more literary allusions: http://www.worsleyschool.net/socialarts/allusion/page

illusion: something unreal that one thinks is real (don't confuse)

"Siren Song"

by Margaret Atwood

This is the one song everyone

would like to learn:

the song

that is irresistible:

the song that forces men to leap overboard in squadrons

even though they see the beached skulls

the song nobody knows

because anyone who has heard it

is dead, and the others can't remember

Shall I tell you the secret

and if I do, will you get me

out of this bird suit?

I don't enjoy it here

squatting on this island

looking picturesque and mythical

with these two feathery maniacs,

I don't enjoy singing

this trio, fatal and valuable.

I will tell the secret to you ,to you, only to you.

Come closer. This song

is a cry for help: Help me!

Only you, only you can,

you are unique

At last. Alas

it is a boring song

but it works every time.

analogy or extended metaphor:

Both are comparisons. An analogy is more of an argument; in an analogy one is arguing that two things are the same, like comparing the Iraq War to the Vietnam War. An extended metaphor is a bit less argumentative, it just shows how things are related. The two terms are often casually used interchangeably.

FOG

Carl Sandburg

The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

Nothing Gold Can Stay
by
Robert Frost

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

caesura:

the pausing or stopping within a line of poetry caused by needed punctuation.

The punctuation within the lines (in this case, all commas) are the caesura, not the punctuation at the ends of the lines.

Miss Spider's Wedding by David Kirk

"They talked of all their dreams and hopes,

Of art and nature, love and fate.

They peered through toy kaleidoscopes

And murmured thoughts I shan't relate.

Then Holley held Miss Spider's hand...

I'll say no more, you understand.

For private moments between spiders

Should not be witnessed by outsiders."

I'M NOBODY! WHO ARE YOU?

Emily Dickenson

I'm nobody! Who are you?

Are you nobody, too?
Then there's a pair of us -- don't tell!
They'd advertise -- you know!

How dreary to be somebody!

How public like a frog

To tell one's name the livelong day

To an admiring bog!

enjambement:

the continuation of thought from one line of poetry to the next without punctuation needed at the end of the previous line(s).

Trees by Joyce Kilmer I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the sweet earth's flowing breast; A tree that looks at God all day, And lifts her leafy arms to pray; A tree that may in summer wear A nest of robins in her hair; Upon whose bosom snow has lain; Who intimately lives with rain. Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree.

hyperbole:

extreme exaggeration for effect.

Hyperbole of My Dog
Little Girl is my dog. She sleeps like a log. She has a huge mouth, And eats like a hog In her excitement Her tail is a whip times ten. When she sees food Hers eyes start to spin.

metaphor:

the comparison of two unlike things by saying one is the other.

The Soul Selects Her Own Society

Emily Dickenson

The Soul selects her own Society —

Then — shuts the Door —

To her divine Majority —

Present no more —

Unmoved — she notes the Chariots — pausing —

At her low Gate —

Unmoved — an Emperor be kneeling

Upon her Mat —

I've known her — from an ample nation —

Choose One —

Then — close the Valves of her attention —

Like Stone —

THE BLUES

By Sierra Ceballos, age 8.

When you fall off a cliff and you get hit by a buffalo,

that's the blues.

When your chicken gets hit by a car and you're not that smart,

that's the blues.

When you fall in your chair and you lose all your hair and you lose your underwear,

that's the blues.

When you hit your head and your mom sends you to bed,

that's the blues.

metonymy:

onomatopoeia

oxymoron:

personification:

the giving of human traits to non-human things incapable of having those traits.

MASK FLING your red scarf faster and faster, dancer. It is summer and the sun loves a million green leaves, masses of green. Your red scarf flashes across them calling and a-calling. The silk and flare of it is a great soprano leading a chorus Carried along in a rouse of voices reaching for the heart of the world. Your toes are singing to meet the song of your arms: Let the red scarf go swifter. Summer and the sun command you.

symbol:

Other terms (not included in project or test):

elegy: a poem of lament (extreme sorrow, such as caused by death)

free verse: a poem without either a rhyme or a rhythm scheme, although rhyme may be used, just without a pattern.

blank verse: un-rhymed lines of iambic pentameter (ten syllables with all even numbered syllables accented)

imagery: the use of words to create a mental picture

mood: the emotional effect of a poem or a story

Understanding and using these devices and terms can help improve and strengthen poetry. Imagery is essential for vivid poetry, and devices help develop imagery.

The speaker: The speaker provides structure and uniformity to a poem. In this case the speakers point of view is first person point of view:

AZTEC MASK

I WANTED a man's face looking into the jaws and throat
of life
With something proud on his face, so proud no smash
of the jaws,
No gulp of the throat leaves the face in the end
With anything else than the old proud look:
Even to the finish, dumped in the dust,
Lost among the used-up cinders,
This face, men would say, is a flash,
Is laid on bones taken from the ribs of the earth,
Ready for the hammers of changing, changing years,
Ready for the sleeping, sleeping years of silence.
Ready for the dust and fire and wind.
I wanted this face and I saw it today in an Aztec mask.
A cry out of storm and dark, a red yell and a purple prayer,
A beaten shape of ashes
waiting the sunrise or night,
something or nothing,
proud-mouthed,
proud-eyed gambler.

Structure: The structure of the poems, changes its meaning.

Hiding in the Mask

By Ellen Bauer

(Dear reader:
This is a poem for two voices.
It is meant to be read with one voice reading the left side,
the other voice reading the right.
Whenever two sentences or words are on the same horizontal  level,
they are meant to be read at the same time.
When there is a blank on one side, that reader is quiet while the
other side reads, until there are words again.)

The masks we wear Hiding Ritual flames Eyes, in masks Are the only part That lives. Masks of Death Life Rain Summer Joy Fear Weeping Beneath the mask. Hiding Of the worshipped Bringing out Our hidden one. Some wear them From shame. Some wear them During joy, Celebration. But our masks, Bringing up Ancient Are ours. The masks we wear.

The masks we wear What? Reflecting in our eyes. Eyes, in masks Of our faces That lives. Life Death Summer Rain Fear Joy Hiding tears. Weeping Love, Of the worshipped Being. Bringing out Our soul. From shame. An ancient vow. During joy, A wedding Deep with mystery, Ancient Rituals, Are ours. The masks we wear.

x

SOW: Literary Tracking sheet

The Sound of Waves, by Yokio Mishima

Literary Devices Tracking Sheet

HA English 9

OReilly

 

A theme is an insight on life. The hidden meaning of the book. The ideas or morality underlying the plot. They are complex statements not single word topics.

 

Here are some more themes from The Sound of Waves stated in a thesis statement:

 

The natural state of human beings is to be essentially good; therefore, the noblest characters in the text The Sound of Waves have the closest ties to nature.

 

When people are essentially good and brave, they learn from their mistakes and make amends to those they have harmed.

 

Noble characters lack ego and are not concerned with their appearance, possessions, or the opinions of others; consequently, such noble souls selflessly serve others to the benefit of society.

 

Karma is at work in people’s lives, so selfless, courageous deeds are rewarded in the end, and selfishness and cowardice is punished with regret and personal pain.

 

There are other themes related to topics of courage, honour, nature, spirituality, selflessness, beauty, and self awareness. They all are insights on life—fundamental truths about human existence.

 

The following literary devices create and support theme:

 

• Characters represent and display aspects of human nature about which the author is trying to make a point. In The Sound of Waves, Shinju embodies the values of courage, honesty, selflessness, and closeness to nature.

 

• Motifs are repeating elements that support the tone or theme. Some motifs in Sound of Waves are nature, (waves, animals, insects, seaweed etc.) spirituality, selflessness, ego, karma, courage/cowardice, honour, self awareness, pessimism, optimism, simplicity, male/female roles, gossip, city life, thought, beauty, dirtiness, education  

 

• Symbols are images used to stand for something else, much like a flag stands for a country. In the text Sound of Waves, the lighthouse may stand for education as it casts a light on the bucolic life on the island.

 

• A metaphor is a comparison such as, “Life is a dream.”

 

• A simile is a comparison using like or as. “Her life is like a dream.”

 

• Personification uses human qualities to describe non-human objects such as saying that “the ocean roars.”

 

• Imagery creates strong mental images in the mind of the reader to vividly and graphically underscore theme and tone. “The halibut had already been placed on a white enamel platter, where it lay faintly gasping, blood oozing from its gills, streaking its smooth white skin.”  This is a vivid image that creates an ominous, helpless tone.

 

• Foreshadowing hints at coming events. The above quote could be foreshadowing indicating that the characters are about to be “caught” and will soon be helpless.

 

Your mission should you choose to accept it:

1. For each approximately 50 pages assigned, you will pick 2 theme qualities of your own or from the list above.
2. You will directly quote the text. Cite the page number. Block quotes of more than three lines are indented on each line with the period before the parenthesis.
3. You will state which literary devices or characters appear in the quote.
4. Write commentary on the quote showing how the quote reveals theme and the supporting literary devices. In your commentary, integrate short quotes and include the page number at the end of the commentary before the period. The commentary is in LP
5. Use the following format, and do it twice for each approximately 50 pages:

 

Pages 1-54

Theme

The natural state of human beings is to be essentially good; therefore, the noblest characters in the text The Sound of Waves have the closest ties to nature.

Quote from text and page number:

 

…Skin can be burned no darker by the sun than [Shinju’s] were burned...His dark eyes were exceedingly clear, but their clarity was not that of intellectuality—it was a gift that the sea bestows upon those who make their livelihood upon it….(6)

Literary devices supporting theme:

Vivid imagery, character, personification

Commentary:

Shinju is a character who, as a fisherman, lives close to nature, so the sea shapes his personality. At the same time, nature itself appears to have a personality and human qualities; the ocean “bestows” gifts, imbuing those who live close to it with a wisdom beyond “intellectuality”(6).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Africa Power Point

Things Fall Apart 5-2 Power Point Research Project

HA English 9

OReilly

Work in groups of two to five. One member of your group must have previous experience with the application Microsoft Power Point or the Google docs version of PowerPoint.

 

Choose a topic that you and your group will research. You will need to find five (5) key ideas (reasons, details, or facts) about your topic, and two (2) distinct examples or explanation of each key idea. (Yes, that is why it’s called a “5-2” project!)

Choose one of the following topics:

 

The Boar Wars
The Huguenots in South Africa
Bryce Courtney
Apartheid
The English/Dutch in South Africa

African religions

African mythology

African dancing

African rituals/mysticism

African masks

Tribal culture in Africa

African clothing

Missionaries  in Africa

African foods and recipes

African music, especially South African choirs

African art

Oral storytelling traditions

African folktales

African languages

Colonization of Africa

Something else? See me.

History of South Africa

The San Bushmen

Zulum Shangan, or some other African tribe

 

Your presentation must have at least twelve slides as described below:

5 points: Slide one introduces your topic and outlines the five key ideas that will be discussed in your presentation. (background, thesis, and plan). Include your full names and period number.

25 points: The next ten slides will present and describe five (5) key points about your topic and two (2) examples or explanations for each key idea (ten slides total). You will have at least two slides for each key idea, which contain your two explanations/examples in the form of brief, simple, bulleted explanations with an illustration, graphic, or visual aide. You may have more than ten slides, but no less.

10 points: You must have at least ten (10) illustrations as part of your ten slides

5 points: After your key idea and example slides, have a slide or two that discusses, with specific examples, your topic’s connection to the text The Power of One.

10 points: Turn in one hard copy of your Power Point presentation formatted as described by the librarian during your Power Point tutorial. Include your names and period number. Pay special attention to when the librarian describes how to save your work. If you don’t save your work correctly, you will be unable to present your power point. The librarian will also show you how to merge your work with your partners.

5 points: Works Cited: On the last page of your hard copy that you turn in when you present, using MLA format, include a final page listing the source/s of your information. You must have at least two sources. You need not cite the sources of your illustrations

10 points: Individual Score—Each person in your group must be responsible for and present one of the key ideas. Someone must also present the opening and concluding slide.

 

Due dates and time line:

 

__________________

Determine your topic and begin figuring out your five key ideas and who is responsible for each key idea.

____________________

• Research your group’s topic and create an outline with at five key ideas with two examples for each key idea that you will explore in your presentation. Find websites and/or URLs from which you can download illustrations and create your Works Cited and outline.

 

____________________

• Work on your power point in library

• Have your outline and Works Cited checked off

 

____________________

• Last day to work on your power point in library.

• Make sure you print up a properly formatted hard copy (see rubric)

 

____________________

• Assignment due: Present Power Points

• Turn in hard copy when presenting