AP Lit & Comp 1/28/15

Transcription

1 AP Lit & Comp 1/28/15 1. Focus on Perrine s Figurative Language ch Close reading of opening paragraphs of the novel 3. Epigraph activity 25 minutes share out 4. A closer look at Genesis 5. For next class

2 Figurative Language Robert Frost: Poetry provides the one permissible way of saying one thing and meaning another. Synecdoche the use of the part for the whole Example: The cuckoo s song is unpleasing to a married ear. (Married ear means married man) from the Shakespeare poem Spring. Other common examples of synecdoche in common speech are: boots usually refers to soldiers Pentagon is a synecdoche when it refers to a few decision makers The phrase gray beard refers to an old man The word bread refers to food or money as in Writing is my bread and butter or sole breadwinner.

3 Figurative Language Metonymy the word used to describe another thing is closely linked to that particular thing, but is not necessarily a part of it. Crown refers to power or authority and is a metonymy used to replace the word king or queen. Everyday examples of metonymy: The pen is mightier than the sword. )Pen refers to written words and sword to military force.) The Oval Office was busy doing damage control. (The Oval Office is a metonymy because it stands for all the people at work within the inner circles of the presidency.) Let me give you a hand (Hand means help.)

4 Figurative Language Examples of Metonymy from Literature Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. - Shakespeare s Julius Caesar Mark Anthony uses ears to say that he wants the people present there to listen to him attentively. It is a metonymy because the word ear replaces the concept of attention. As he swung toward them holding up the hand Half in appeal, but half as if to keep The life from spilling - Out, Out by Robert Frost In these lines, the expression The life from spilling is a metonymy that refers to spilling of blood.

5 Figurative Language Synecdoche and metonymy are closely related. Here are some synecdoche and metonymy which are such a part of language, they no longer strike us as figurative: Redhead for a red-haired person Hands for manual workers Wheels for automobiles Highbrow for a sophisticate Tongues for languages

6 According to Perrine Here s why figurative language is effective: (p.34) 1. It affords us imaginative pleasure. 2. Figures of speech are a way of bringing additional imagery into verse, of making the abstract concrete, of making poetry more sensuous. 3. Figures of speech are a way of adding emotional intensity to otherwise merely informative statements. 4. Figures of speech ae an effective means of concentration, a way of saying much in brief compass.

7 Out, out, brief candle (frommacbeth) Out, out, brief candle! Life s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.

8 Metaphors by Sylvia Plath I m a riddle in nine syllables, An elephant, a ponderous house, A melon strolling on two tendrils. O red fruit, ivory, fine timbers! This loaf s bright with its yeasty rising. Money s new-minted in this fat purse. I m a means, a stage, a cow in calf. I ve eaten a bag of green apples, Boarded the train there s no getting off

9 Biblical Allusions Titles of Books Book Three Judges (tells story of Israel s continuing cycle of sin and repentance) In The Poisonwood Bible, the book begins with a quote in which an angel scolds the children of Israel for their faithlessness and worshipping false gods (compare to Nathan and Leah) Book Four Bel and the Dragon (book from the Apocrypha involving Daniel who proved the idol Bel as false, killed a dragon and survived the lion s den unharmed). In The Poisonwood Bible, the book is called Bel and the Serpent. Symbolic of?

10 Biblical Allusions Titles of Books Book Five Exodus (story of Israelites escape from Egypt, then outlines the law set down by God, Moses is hero of Exodus). Compares to? Book Six The Song of the Three Children (an apocryphal passage excluded from most Protestant bibles, a song of praise for three young men who walk in midst of fire unharmed). Compare this allusion to trial by fire to The Poisonwood Bible, also the reference to three children and the idea of deliverance (from?)

11 BIBLICAL ALLUSION Title of the Novel Bangala means something precious and dear. But the way Nathan pronounces it, it means the poisonwood tree. Praise the Lord, hallelujah, my friends! For Jesus will make you itch like nobody s business. This is indicative of an important and pervasive theme throughout the book: the theme of the power and beauty of language

12 An epigraph is: a short quotation or saying at the beginning of a book or chapter, intended to suggest its theme

13 Kingsolver begins the novel with the following epigraph. With your partner, you will select textual evidence from your character s sections of Book 1 that supports the central idea of the epigraph. You must choose five quotations that are apt and precise, and be prepared to share your selections and your reasoning with the class. And God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, And subdue it: and have dominion Over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, And over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Genesis 1:28

14 For next class Read Book Two of The Poisonwood Bible Revelation Write down things you notice and questions you have, as you read. Annotate as you see fit. For Tuesday s class, you will need to have read chapters 6-7 of Perrine s Sound and Sense. These are the two remaining chapters on figurative language. Complete the figurative language worksheet practice for Tuesday as well.