4h Those Winter Sundays

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 4

Welcome

Today: Literature "Those winter Sundays
by Robert Hayden

Recap from last week

What was a rhyme scheme?

Explain what a rhyme scheme is and give an example.

This week a new poem

Those winter Sundays

by Robert Hayden

? --> What do you think the poem will be about?

What is a nice memory of you and an adult in your life?

Those Winter Sundays

Sundays too my father got up early

and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,

then with cracked hands that ached

from labor in the weekday weather made

banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.

I'd wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.

When the rooms were warm, he'd call,

and slowly I would rise and dress,

fearing the chronic angers of that house,

Speaking indifferently to him,

who had driven out the cold

and polished my good shoes as well.

What did I know, what did I know

of love's austere*  and lonely offices?

* austere = somber, hard, moeilijk --> alleen het broodnodige

Those Winter Sundays

Sundays too my father got up early

and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,

then with cracked hands that ached

from labor in the weekday weather made

banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.

I'd wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.

When the rooms were warm, he'd call,

and slowly I would rise and dress,

fearing the chronic angers of that house,

Speaking indifferently to him,

who had driven out the cold

and polished my good shoes as well.

What did I know, what did I know

of love's austere and lonely offices?

1. What does the father do? Name the 3 things mentioned in this poem.

2.  How does the writer feel in this poem? How do you know?

3. So what is this poem about? Use quotes in your answer

Those Winter Sundays

Sundays too my father got up early

and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,

then with cracked hands that ached

from labor in the weekday weather made

banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.

I'd wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.

When the rooms were warm, he'd call,

and slowly I would rise and dress,

fearing the chronic angers of that house,

Speaking indifferently to him,

who had driven out the cold

and polished my good shoes as well.

What did I know, what did I know

of love's austere and lonely offices?

4. What could the bolded sentence  "fearing the chronic angers of that house" mean?

Alliteration

Lientje Leerde Lotje Lopen Langs de Lange Lindelaan

or

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers

Alliteration

Alliteration is a literary device that reflects repetition in two or more nearby words of initial  sounds. 

This means that it is not about the repetition of letters but of the sounds --> Kid's coats is alliterative eventhough the  "k" and "c" are different letters. They SOUND the same here.

Make your own alliterative phrase using your name.

Those Winter Sundays

Sundays too my father got up early

and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,

then with cracked hands that ached

from labor in the weekday weather made

banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.

I'd wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.

When the rooms were warm, he'd call,

and slowly I would rise and dress,

fearing the chronic angers of that house,

Speaking indifferently to him,

who had driven out the cold

and polished my good shoes as well.

What did I know, what did I know

of love's austere and lonely offices?

5. Find an example of alliteration and explain your answer.

Personification

The sun smiled to me, it would be a beautiful day!

(Have you ever talked to objects? If  you have, you have personified them! )

Personification

When a writer uses human characteristics to describe non-human things (objects, ideas, animals, plants, planets...)

This allows writers to create life and motion within inanimate objects by assigning them recognizable human behaviors and emotions --> makes it easier to imagine the scene and message

You often find this in children's books too.

Examples of personification

- My alarm yelled at me this morning.

- I like onions, but they don’t like me.

- The sign on the door insulted my intelligence.

- My phone is not cooperating with me today.

Those Winter Sundays

Sundays too my father got up early

and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,

then with cracked hands that ached

from labor in the weekday weather made

banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.

I'd wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.

When the rooms were warm, he'd call,

and slowly I would rise and dress,

fearing the chronic angers of that house,

Speaking indifferently to him,

who had driven out the cold

and polished my good shoes as well.

What did I know, what did I know

of love's austere and lonely offices?

6. Find an example of personification and explain your answer.

Bonus questions

1. In the last stanza of the poem the poet writes ‘what did I know, what did I know’. 

What do you think the author wished he had known?

2. What is the relationship between the father and son?