Go over findings from “The Fish”. What images did you identify?

What are the deeper meanings or metaphors these images tried to convey?

What do you believe is the THEME of this poem?

Now we’re going to PRACTICE analyzing another poem: This time going to use SLAM and try to find as much as you can.

HANDOUT: “Do not go Gentle into that Night”

SLAM: First let’s look at the STRUCTURE. Unlike what we’ve read before, this poem has a very strict format: the villanelle , which is a highly structured poem made up of five tercets followed by a quatrain, with two repeating rhymes and two refrains.

Next let’s look at LANGUAGE: First label the RHYME SCHEME of “Do not go gentle” with letters at the end of the lines. These are also considered “sound devices”–how the rhymes sound.

Even certain letters may have feelings–or connotations–associated with them.

• For example, “s” sounds tend to feel sinister or threatening, because that’s the sound associated with snakes.
• Hard “c” and “k” sounds may be considered abrupt or even angry because of their sharpness. Hard “g,” “d, “and “t” sounds are also short and sharp, but “b” sounds are more bouncy.
• Some feel that “l” and “m” and “n” sounds are soothing because they can be elongated in pronunciation. Rolling “r’s” fit that, as well as “w” sounds. Some people feel “h” sounds are light and airy.
• Of course context can also affect how a sound “feels” and these connotations may shift. “S” sounds can feel soothing instead of sinister depending upon the tone of a poem.
• Consider the “Bouba/Kiki” affect, which suggests that across languages and cultures, certain sounds convey specific meanings. Which shape below would you label “Bouba” and which would be “Kiki”? (In studies among college students, 95% agree on the names.)

Next let’s look at FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE: simile, metaphor, alliteration, hyperbole, onomatopoeia, personification, etc.

Then let’s look at SENSORY LANGUAGE: imagery, symbols, etc.

Now we analyze AFFECT that all of this language and rhyming and sounds have: what is the TONE the author is conveying? What is the MOOD the audience is to feel? Are there any SHIFTS in the poem, and if so, how does the shift(s) change the tone/mood?

Lastly, we’re ready to put all of this together for MEANING: What is the subject, or PURPOSE of the poem? Are there SYMBOLS and DEEPER MEANINGS? What is the central MESSAGE? Look again at the TITLE: how does it contribute to the poem?

HOMEWORK: Create a CLAIM—a clear statement (or thesis) about the purpose of “Do not go gentle.” What is the message (theme) the speaker is trying to convey? Then list three examples from the text that support this claim. This is NOT an essay, but merely creating a strong thesis sentence and listing three items that would support that claim. BRING this claim (a sentence or two) and the list of your three supports to class. Share it with me BEFORE MIDNIGHT! We’ll be working with these during class. (Once you have a solid claim–and I approve it–THEN you’ll write the essay for it.)

*REMEMBER QUIZ on the first 15 literary terms TOMORROW. Match definition to the term.