4 stanzas (=group of lines forming a unit in a poem), 4 lines per stanza,
fixed rhyme scheme AABB = heroic couplet
We'll discuss the following literary devices in the poem:
a) setting
b) symbolism
c) imagery
d) hyperbole
e) assonance
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Literary Devices
Funeral Blues"
Alliteration
Onomatopoeia
Assonance
Hyperbole
Symbolism
Setting
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Setting
Time and place where the action of the poem happens
What is the setting of "Funeral Blues"?
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Symbolism
An object representing another, to give an entirely different meaning that is
much deeper/ more significant.
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Symbolism in Funeral Blues
Q 1) What does it mean to "Stop the Clock", "Cut off the phone", "Silence the piano" ?
Q 2) What do "black cotton gloves" symbolize?
Q 3) "He was my North, my South, my East and West" - what do these words symbolize?
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Imagery
The use of particular words that create a visual representation of ideas in our minds (symbols, metaphors, simile)
Q: What comes to mind when you hear the words "blues", "moaning", and "muffled drum"?
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Hyperbole
A hyperbole is an unreal exaggeration to emphasize a real situation.
Common hyperboles (every-day use):
She's so heavy, she weighs a ton!
I'm dying of shame!
What a dumb action: you must have a pea-sized brain!
It took him ages to solve the problem
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Hyperbole in Funeral Blues
A hyperbole is an unreal exaggeration to emphasize a real situation.
Q 1) What are examples of hyperboles in the poem "Funeral Blues"?
Q 2) Can you find a stanza (= unified group of lines in a poem) with only hyperboles?
Q 3) What kind of feeling does exaggeration create? Which grammatical form does the narrator use in the first two stanzas to help create this kind of feeling?
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Assonance
The repetition of a vowel sound or diphthong in non-rhyming words
Q. Can you find an example of a vowel sound that is repeated in the stanzas of "Funeral Blues"?
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Other literary devices
Q. Can you find any other literary devices in the poem?
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First Love
1) Who is the narrator? What is he/she doing in Physics?
2) What happened to him/her in that class?
3) What was the effect of this behaviour in Physics?
4) What does "But had by heart what Archimedes proves"mean?