Mr. Liconti's ENG4U1 class blog Mr. Liconti's ENG4U Resources

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Discussion 4 - Your Immagination

Who is ultimately responsible for your mind?

This weeks assignment is two-fold, it tackles both persuasive writing, and it starts you thinking about the larger assignment for The Educated Imagination.

Write an open letter to the Ministry of Education arguing persuasively that mythology should become part of the Secondary School English Curriculum.

Use both Frye's The Educated Imagination and the mythology package that I gave you as starting points. Secondary sources are most welcome, but must be cited.

Use at least three rhetorical devices to persuade your reader. See the website for details.

Sunday, October 05, 2008

Discussion 3 - World War I Poetry

World War 1 poetry is a genre of poetry which flourished in the horror of the First World War. Written predominantly by soldiers in the field, World War 1 poetry struck a chord with readers at home because it portrayed the reality of, The Great War.

As you read Findley's The Wars, I would like you to read World War 1 poetry and write a blog entry.

Your blog posting must include in this order:
  • The poem (including title, poet's name, date)
  • Your response
Notes:
  1. Everyone must have a unique poem.
  2. You can reserve your poem by posting the title of the poem you would like to use as soon as you want. Post it here, in this thread.
  3. When your assignment is ready, just delete your 'reservation' post, and submit your real one.
  4. You cannot use a poem listed February 2007 posting unless you speak to me by Wednesday of this week.
In your response, I would like you to use the following guide to structure your posting.

A Framework for Responding to Poetry

Introduction:

  • Briefly introduce the title of the poem and name of the poet.
  • Try to classify the type of poem it is e.g. sonnet, ballad, haiku, acrostic, shape, lyric, ode, limerick, elegy, dramatic monologue etc.
  • Briefly explain the subject of the poem.

Point One: Explore the Themes of the Poem

  • Try to group the ideas in the poem is there a story that the poem tells?
  • What do you think the poem is about?

Point Two: Imagery used to express themes

  • What are the pictures in the poem?
  • Are metaphors/similes used to explain ideas?
  • Are the five senses used to evoke certain reactions in the reader?

Point Three: Form and Structure

  • How is the poem organized e.g. lines, verses, layout and shape.
  • Why has the poet decided to structure the ideas in this way e.g. the sequence of ideas, length of lines, patterns etc.

Point Four: Rhyme and Rhythm

  • How does the poem rhyme? E.g. abab or aabb etc.
  • What is the rhythm of the poem when read aloud?
  • Why has the poet chosen this rhyme and rhythm to express these ideas?

Point Five: Language Patterns

  • Think about the sound of the poem and choice of words
  • The poet uses specific words because they have a certain association in the reader's mind.
  • Look out for alliteration, onomatopoeia, assonance, personification, symbolism. How has the poet grouped words to achieve a desired effect?

Conclusion: Poet's message

  • What is the poet trying to communicate to the reader?
  • How effective are the devices/language that he uses?
  • What is your response to the poem?
(www.englishresources.co.uk)

I suggest trying the school library or the public library before you try the searching the Internet for poems.

Please note, if you use a search engine to look for poetry, please note that "one", "1", and "I" all give different results.