week 7 Lesson 1

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 5

Welcome to today's class

Today's lesson:

• Revise introduction to 18th century literature
• Literary terms
• Read information on Alexander Pope
• Read "Ode to Solitude"
• Do analysis together
• Answer study questions

Goals:

• Knows what the Enlightment and Age of Reason entail.
• Knows which literary terms are important for this period of literature. 
• Can analyse a poem using literary terms.

18th century literature:

Two phases in poetry:

Neoclassical: 

Heroic couplet but made satirical. Usually a heroic couplet is used to describe a hero's actions in the face of a huge battle. Now it is used as a mock-epic. Which means it makes fun of society. Alexander Pope was a master at this genre. Other greats include Johnathan Swift.

 

Pre-romantic:

Centres on the sensibilities, so more on feelings. Especially nostalgia and melancholy. 

Poets during this phase saw humans as isolated individuals, focussed on the ordinary man. 

Lots of poems of man's reaction to nature during this phase. 

Important poet: John Dyer. 

Prose:

(which means ficition and non-fiction.)

Journalistic writing:

Because of the popularity of coffee houses and the availability of printing, newpapers and periodicals became more important. 

They were meant to spread opinions, news and help educate people. Some were also humourous, using satire to prove points. 

Journals:

This became a whole genre. Actual non-fiction diaries but more importantly, diaries that were actually fiction but claimed to be non-fiction. Such as Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. 

Daniel Defoe is often named the first novelist. 

Reading

Read the information on Alexander Pope on pages 28 and 29 of Alquin. 

Literary terms for analysis:

Imagery:

Using figurative language in a way that appeals to our physical senses (beeldspraak)

The cold wind pierced her body. 

Metaphor and Simile:

A simile is a metaphor but not all metaphors are similes.

A metaphor compares two things directly by stating that one thing is the other (symbolically, not literally)

’All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players;’ W. Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act 2, Scene 7.

A simile is a metaphor that uses “like” or “as” in it, 

“As cunning as a fox” or “My love is like a red, red rose.”

Alliteration:

Repetion of consonant (medeklinker) sounds in words nearby.

Shakespeare – Sonnet 12: When I do count the clock that tells the time

Personification:

A form of metaphor. Human characteristics are attributed to nonhuman things. This allows writers to create life and motion within inanimate objects, animals, and even abstract ideas by giving them recognizable human behaviours and emotions.

Tone:                                                                      Every writer has a purpose when writing a piece of literature. They want their readers to experience a certain emotion or want to elicit a certain response. The tone they write in triggers a response from us as readers. You can often "feel" the tone in the writing. 

Setting:                                                              The time and place of the poem. A setting is a crucial part of any piece of literature and tells us more than you think.

Symbolism:

This is using an object, action or a person to convey a deeper meaning. We will come across a lot of symbolism throughout our reading. Symbolism differens from a metaphor. Symbolism uses a stand in for an idea where metaphors draw a comparison between the two. To give you some real world symbolism: a four-leaf-clover is a symbol for good luck or a dollar sign symbolizes money. 

Motif can be seen as using repetition with a theme. So it's not just repetition, it has a deeper purpose. 

How to analyse a poem using markers

During our analysis we will use a colour system:

yellow = imagery (dus beeldspraak, alle taal die je zintuigen aanspreekt, taal die je kunt "voelen")

purple = language (alliteration, repetition)

orange = structure (does anything stand out, use of interpunction, run-off lines)

green = ideas (what does it mean, is there an underlying meaning present?)

Let's read

Get our your markers. 

I have the poem printed out for you to mark on. 

We'll read the poem first. 

Afterwards, we'll analyse the first 4 lines together.

You can do the rest together. 

Let's discuss what you've found

Can we think of themes?

Do we have symbolism?

What is the setting?

Answer the study questions

Go to page 31 in Alquin.

In twos answer the study questions
(you may find we have already discussed a few)

Time to discuss