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Author
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Topic: Semester 2 and Poetry - Lesson #1
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Mr Branch
Mr. Branch
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posted February 17, 2008 07:23 AM
Welcome back to the AP LIt Message Board for Semester 2!! Over the next 11 weeks or so we will focus our board's efforts on poetry. Each week you will have a brief lesson and a poem, taken from Laurence Perrine's "Sound and Sense" - the definitive text for students of poetry. Here we go! Lesson #1 - Post due by midnight on Monday 2/25 It came up in the final, so here is an example of "apostrophe". "Apostrophe" is a type of figurative language (language that is not literal in nature) which "consists in addressing someone absent or dead or something nonhuman as if that person or thing were present and alive and could reply to what is being said...apostrophe (along with personification) are both ways of giving life and immediacy to on'e language" Perrine (65) A.E. Housman's "To An Athlete Dying Young" uses apostrophe. Read the poem and then answer questions 1-4, which are mostly reviewing things covered in Semester 1.
"To An Athlete Dying Young"
- A.E. Housman
THE time you won your town the race
We chaired you through the market-place;
Man and boy stood cheering by,
And home we brought you shoulder-high.
To-day, the road all runners come,
Shoulder-high we bring you home,
And set you at your threshold down,
Townsman of a stiller town.
Smart lad, to slip betimes away
From fields where glory does not stay,
And early though the laurel grows
It withers quicker than the rose.
Eyes the shady night has shut
Cannot see the record cut,
And silence sounds no worse than cheers
After earth has stopped the ears:
Now you will not swell the rout
Of lads that wore their honours out,
Runners whom renown outran
And the name died before the man.
So set, before its echoes fade,
The fleet foot on the sill of shade,
And hold to the low lintel up
The still-defended challenge-cup.
And round that early-laurelled head
Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead,
And find unwithered on its curls
The garland briefer than a girl's.
Questions:
1. Identify the apostrophe.
2. Denotation and Connotation: Select any one (significant/important) word from the poem and give its denotative meaning (its dictionary meaning) and give its connotative meaning(s), those meanings that go beyond the dictionary meaning. 3. Select one image from the poem and explain how it appeals to the senses. 4. What would you identify as the tone of the poem? (Remember, the tone is the attitude that the writer/speaker has for her subject, audience, or herself).
[ February 17, 2008 07:38 AM: Message edited by: Mr Branch ]
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montanaro.g
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posted February 19, 2008 07:01 PM
quote:
"To An Athlete Dying Young"
- A.E. HousmanTHE time you won your town the race
We chaired you through the market-place;
Man and boy stood cheering by,
And home we brought you shoulder-high. To-day, the road all runners come,
Shoulder-high we bring you home,
And set you at your threshold down,
Townsman of a stiller town. Smart lad, to slip betimes away
From fields where glory does not stay,
And early though the laurel grows
It withers quicker than the rose. Eyes the shady night has shut
Cannot see the record cut,
And silence sounds no worse than cheers
After earth has stopped the ears: Now you will not swell the rout
Of lads that wore their honours out,
Runners whom renown outran
And the name died before the man. So set, before its echoes fade,
The fleet foot on the sill of shade,
And hold to the low lintel up
The still-defended challenge-cup. And round that early-laurelled head
Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead,
And find unwithered on its curls
The garland briefer than a girl's.
Questions:1. Identify the apostrophe.
When trying to identify the apostrophe throughout the poem, I realized that most of the poem contains apostrophe, therefore, I will select the most notorious apostrophe in the poem, which are the first few lines of the poem. quote:
THE time you won your town the race
We chaired you through the market-place;
Man and boy stood cheering by,
And home we brought you shoulder-high.
2. Denotation and Connotation: Select any one (significant/important) word from the poem and give its denotative meaning (its dictionary meaning) and give its connotative meaning(s), those meanings that go beyond the dictionary meaning. Rose
The dictionary definition is a very beautiful plant, but the connotative meaning is the youth of the athlete. The rose is referring to the beauty of a young man's life that withers to fast. Roses are not supposed to wither fast. 3. Select one image from the poem and explain how it appeals to the senses. quote:
THE time you won your town the race
We chaired you through the market-place;
Man and boy stood cheering by,
And home we brought you shoulder-high.
This part of the poem appeals to the auditory sense because the author of the poem, through this imagery describes the excitement of the family and people that surround the athlete. When I read this part, I imagined all the people chanting the athlete, who had just won the race.4. What would you identify as the tone of the poem? (Remember, the tone is the attitude that the writer/speaker has for her subject, audience, or herself). The tone of poem is one of admiration, but at the same time of nostalgia in that the author is remembering the young athlete's achievements. As the poem progresses, the tone starts to wither away into one of sadness, since the author is remembering the young athlete, but at the same time, through the author's remembrance of the athlete, the tone is also one of joy and admiration. [ February 25, 2008 08:28 PM: Message edited by: montanaro.g ]
[ February 25, 2008 08:31 PM: Message edited by: montanaro.g ]
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brucelin
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posted February 26, 2008 07:33 PM
1. Identify the apostrophe.
The following is one of the many apostrophes which this poem contains:
quote:
Now you will not swell the rout
Of lads that wore their honours out,
Runners whom renown outran
And the name died before the man.
2. Denotation and Connotation: Select any one (significant/important) word from the poem and give its denotative meaning (its dictionary meaning) and give its connotative meaning(s), those meanings that go beyond the dictionary meaning.
Laurel
Denotation: Also called bay, sweet bay. a small European evergreen tree, Laurus nobilis, of the laurel family, having dark, glossy green leaves. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/laurel)
Connotation: symbol of victory, glory, and fame; the laurel wreath is compared to the crown of a champion with excellence in his performances.3. Select one image from the poem and explain how it appeals to the senses.
quote:
Eyes the shady night has shut
Cannot see the record cut,
And silence sounds no worse than cheers
After earth has stopped the ears:
From the first two lines, the reader sees complete darkness, where light has forever ceased. The subsequent lines gives the reader a soundless, static ambient, as if time has stopped. As a whole, the stanza illustrates the picture of a dead man.4. What would you identify as the tone of the poem? (Remember, the tone is the attitude that the writer/speaker has for her subject, audience, or herself).
Personally, I would identify the narrator's tone toward the young athlete as satirical. Housman suggests that famous or important people who die young are the only ones who get to preserve their transitory greatness and celebrity, preventing them from dying away with the pass of time.
[ February 26, 2008 07:36 PM: Message edited by: brucelin ]
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Chris Kennedy
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posted February 26, 2008 07:52 PM
1."THE time you won your town the race
We chaired you through the market-place;
Man and boy stood cheering by,
And home we brought you shoulder-high."is one of many, many examples (the whole poem is an apostrophe) 2.denotative field: land used for grazing or growing crops. connotative field:humble origins 3."Shoulder-high we bring you home" One can visualize and hear a boy being cheered by a crowd as his dad carries him on his shoulders after he caught a fly ball in a little league. In the same way is the runner praised, temporarily.
4. A tone of melancholy is conspicuous. The author describes a man, perhaps a boy, who achieved glory and made a name for himself amongst others, only to be forgotten shortly after. The best of his life had passed him by, forgotten by all others except for the author and him.
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alberto_dacosta
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posted February 26, 2008 09:34 PM
1) Examples of apostrophe abound in this poem. We have "the time you won your town the race" in the first verse and, subsequently, "and set you at your threshold down" in the seventh verse. Note that these are mere examples: there are other instances of apostrophe in A.E. Housman's poem.2) Stiller denotes stagnation or stillness. The word connotates old age and a chronological passage of time, particularly when one considers the word in the context of the verse and in the context of the poem as a whole. In effect, the word connotes the age of the returning champion, given that he returns to a "stiller" town that is still awash in memories of his victory. The word's connotation adds to the poem's central theme of passing time. 3) quote:
Eyes the shady night has shut
Cannot see the record cut,
And silence sounds no worse than cheers
After earth has stopped the ears:
Note how the imagery appeals to the senses: the word shady adds to the impression of blindness produced by the "[shut] eyes", whereas the comparison between silence and cheers serves to illustrate the deafness that comes with age as well. This imagery is profoundly effective, inasmuch as it transmits to the reader the physical conditions associated with old age by likening them to descriptive adjectives like "shady" and "earth", which implies dullness and inflexibility.4) The predominant tone of the poem is one of remembrance: it is not solely melancholic, given that the protagonist clearly conveys a positive message to his companion. Words like "shady", "wither", and "strengthless" serve to complement the melancholy associated with the process of aging; simultaneously, however, words such as "laurel" imply some degree of glory. Overall, we can state that Housman's poem conveys a positive but resigned message, inasmuch as it concedes that aging will gradually wither one's strength but that the individual can maintain his achievements and his reputation throughout.
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Sofia Hepner
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posted February 26, 2008 09:38 PM
Questions:
1. Identify the apostrophe.
The whole poem is an actual apostrophe to a young athlete, but a specific example would be this verse:
“We chaired you through the market-place;”
2. Denotation and Connotation: Select any one (significant/important) word from the poem and give its denotative meaning (its dictionary meaning) and give its connotative meaning(s), those meanings that go beyond the dictionary meaning.
Echoes
Denotative meaning: a sound that repeats itself until it fades away.
Connotative meaning: echoes refers to the sound of cheering, more specifically the momentary glory and honor that these athletes experience. The author warns the athlete that this glory goes away, and one should take advantage.
3. Select one image from the poem and explain how it appeals to the senses.
“And silence sounds no worse than cheers
After earth has stopped the ears”
These verses appeal to the auditory sense, creating a silent moment, but what they actually refer to is the moment after the glory is gone, when there are no more cheers and all that is left is the memory of those times. By silence the author means once the athlete can’t compete anymore. 4. What would you identify as the tone of the poem? (Remember, the tone is the attitude that the writer/speaker has for her subject, audience, or herself).
The tone of this poem is a bit melancholic with a touch of bitter. As if the reader is holding a grudge against all athletes and telling them their honor is short and eventually it’s going to fade.
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Marie Claire
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posted February 26, 2008 09:39 PM
1. Identify the apostrophe.
The whole poem is an apostrophe, because it is addressed to someone who is not present anymore (presumably dead)
"THE time you won your town the race
We chaired you through the market-place;
Man and boy stood cheering by,
And home we brought you shoulder-high."
2. Denotation and Connotation: Select any one (significant/important) word from the poem and give its denotative meaning (its dictionary meaning) and give its connotative meaning(s), those meanings that go beyond the dictionary meaning.
--DENOTATION: Townsman of a stiller town.
Still- inactive: not in physical motion; "the inertia of an object at rest"
--CONNOTATION: In this poem still does not mean inactive, it means in mourning of death. 3. Select one image from the poem and explain how it appeals to the senses. And early though the laurel grows
It withers quicker than the rose
-- I can smell the rose, and I can also see it whithering 4. What would you identify as the tone of the poem? (Remember, the tone is the attitude that the writer/speaker has for her subject, audience, or herself). I think the tone is very solemn, and in mourning. It is reminiscing about the past and about, I think, a son who has died. He is talking to his son and remembering all the great moments they had together. Very sad poem!
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hcaceres
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posted February 26, 2008 09:57 PM
1. The apostrophe is found in the following lines:
“And set you at your threshold down,
Townsman of a stiller town.
Smart lad, to slip betimes away
From fields where glory does not stay,
And early though the laurel grows
It withers quicker than the rose.”In this lines, the author refers to the dead athlete as if he was still living by attributing him actions.
2. Denotation/Connotation:
“Shoulder-High” – the phrase is defined by the elevation of an object or being above someone’s shoulders. However, in the poem it represents triumph, recognition, and the earnest exuberance felt after victory.
3. “ THE time you won your town the race
We chaired you through the market-place;
Man and boy stood cheering by, And home we brought you shoulder-high. “
This lines appeal to the senses in a more visual way, but is very descriptive as well. First, it sets the event in a “market-place”, which its direct connotation usually involves a lot of people crowded. It makes the readers feel that the athlete was very important to the town. Also, “man and boy” suggests that he was with his father during the celebration. Again all this descriptions create images of the recognition that empowers the poem with a clear visual representation. 4. The poem mainly transmit a tone of melancholy and longing, as the author seems to pay tribute to the death of the athlete while presenting personal experience that admits his feelings of sadness.
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fela
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posted February 26, 2008 10:03 PM
1. Identify the apostrophe.
There are a number of apostrophes all over the poem, like "THE time you won your town the race / We chaired you through the market-place" and "Now you will not swell the rout / Of lads that wore their honours out."2. Denotation and Connotation: Select any one (significant/important) word from the poem and give its denotative meaning (its dictionary meaning) and give its connotative meaning(s), those meanings that go beyond the dictionary meaning.
The word I chose is rout. Its denotative meaning, according yo Dictionary.com, is "any overwhelming defeat." In the denotative context of the poem, the word is used to describe the defeat of runners in a race. However, its connotative meaning embraces much more than that. The author uses this term, along with "runner," to describe men and their mistakes or falls in the road of life. 3. Select one image from the poem and explain how it appeals to the senses.
"And silence sounds no worse than cheers...." is the third verse of the fourth stanza. It is obviously an auditory image, and it appeals to the sense of hearing since it is comparing two opposing sounds: silence versus a cacophany of cheers. 4. What would you identify as the tone of the poem? (Remember, the tone is the attitude that the writer/speaker has for her subject, audience, or herself).
I find the poem to have a very nostalgic tone, since it talks about the defeat--the death--of this young runner of life who was forgotten at an early age. The images, both visual (shady night) and auditory (echoes), cause that sensation of being forgotten, or reminiscing a long ago memory.
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Mr Branch
Mr. Branch
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posted February 27, 2008 06:03 PM
From Idamay:
Questions:
1. Identify the apostrophe.
To-day, the road all runners come,
Shoulder-high we bring you home,
And set you at your threshold down,
Townsman of a stiller town.
The apostrophe is obvious because the author of the poem is constantly referring to the athlete as "you," an invisible being because the athlete is dead. The apostrophe represents remembrance of the young athlete.
2. Denotation and Connotation: Select any one (significant/important) word from the poem and give its denotative meaning (its dictionary meaning) and give its connotative meaning(s), those meanings that go beyond the dictionary meaning.
Shoulder -
Denotation: part of the body.
Connotation: higher up in the scale, being the best, elevating the athlete, the best.
3. Select one image from the poem and explain how it appeals to the senses.
THE time you won your town the race
We chaired you through the market-place;
Man and boy stood cheering by,
And home we brought you shoulder-high.
Auditory.
I imagine this as a celebration in which everyone is happy, especially the author, who I infer might be the father, about the runner's achievement.
4. What would you identify as the tone of the poem? (Remember, the tone is the attitude that the writer/speaker has for her subject, audience, or herself).
Proud, but at the same time sad because the athlete died before his time. He was the best, and the best are always remembered fondly, especially being the best and being young. The athlete was a promise, but he died too early.
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Maria Celeste
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posted March 04, 2008 10:19 PM
1. Example of apostrophe "So set, before its echoes fade,
The fleet foot on the sill of shade,
And hold to the low lintel up
The still-defended challenge-cup" 2. Word: Garland
• Connotative
• a wreath of flowers and leaves, worn on the head or hung as a decoration.
• a prize or distinction
•Denotative: the word garland, which is modified by the adjective ‘briefer’, denotes the brevity of the athlete’s triumph.
3. “And silence sounds no worse than cheers.”
The line, which represents a contradiction, appeals to the sense of ‘feeling’ a silence so overwhelming, that is feels loud.
4. I think that the tone of the poem is of disappointment towards the impermanence of all things. -------------------- Maria Celeste
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dainkelly
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posted March 05, 2008 06:23 PM
1.Now you will not swell the rout
Of lads that wore their honours out,
Runners whom renown outran
And the name died before the man.2.road
dennotation: a long, narrow stretch with a smoothed or paved surface, made for traveling by motor vehicle, carriage, etc., between two or more points; street or highway. connotation: the life people follow, the way people seem to travel through their lives, followind different "roads" and intersecting with others 3."Eyes the shady night has shut
Cannot see the record cut,
And silence sounds no worse than cheers
After earth has stopped the ears" this short passage appeals to the auditory and visual senses, with words like night and silence. When I first read this it gave me a sense of the feeling of how things that might have seemed very significant at a time, may eventually become insignificant. 4. the tone of this immage is angry i think at how short lived fame is, and how although while people claimed to adore them when they were still famouse, the will eventually be forgotten.
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mrodriguez
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posted April 24, 2008 10:11 PM
1. Identify the apostrophe."THE time you won your town the race
We chaired you through the market-place;
Man and boy stood cheering by,
And home we brought you shoulder-high. " This is one example of many. 2. Denotation and Connotation: Select any one (significant/important) word from the poem and give its denotative meaning (its dictionary meaning) and give its connotative meaning(s), those meanings that go beyond the dictionary meaning. chaired - means that they took him up in a chair, or installed him in a position of authority.
Its connotative meaning is that the townspeople revered him for his acomplishments for the town. 3. Select one image from the poem and explain how it appeals to the senses. "THE time you won your town the race
We chaired you through the market-place; " You can hear the people cheering and a crowd carrying him up, after he has won the race for the town. 4. What would you identify as the tone of the poem? (Remember, the tone is the attitude that the writer/speaker has for her subject, audience, or herself). The poem is melancholic as a poem of the death of such a talented person, at such a young age. I also think that he reveres him with this poem, in his rememberance. His lamentation is that such talent goes quicker. "And early though the laurel grows
It withers quicker than the rose"
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RodrigoCC
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posted April 25, 2008 01:23 PM
Questions:
1. Identify the apostrophe.
The poem constantly talks to an athlete.
"Now you will not swell the rout
Of lads that wore their honours out,
Runners whom renown outran
And the name died before the man."2. Denotation and Connotation: Select any one (significant/important) word from the poem and give its denotative meaning (its dictionary meaning) and give its connotative meaning(s), those meanings that go beyond the dictionary meaning. The poem makes reference to the shady night. The night means- the period of time that the earth's face does not face the sun. The shady night is really a reference to the end of his life, death. 3. Select one image from the poem and explain how it appeals to the senses. "And silence sounds no worse than cheers" When I read this part I imagined an immense crowd cheering and suddenly stopping upon watching an athlete die. This brings out my sight and my audible senses. 4. What would you identify as the tone of the poem? (Remember, the tone is the attitude that the writer/speaker has for her subject, audience, or herself). The speaker seems to be somewhat nostalgic towards the time of when the athlete lived. More than that it seems like the narrator is just telling the story of the great athlete. It has a "Ring around the rosie" type feel to it. It is sad but not in its tone. -------------------- The AP English God
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sofiastaburuaga
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posted April 25, 2008 01:45 PM
Questions:
1. Identify the apostrophe.
“THE time you won your town the race
We chaired you through the market-place;
Man and boy stood cheering by,
And home we brought you shoulder-high.”
2. Denotation and Connotation: Select any one (significant/important) word from the poem and give its denotative meaning (its dictionary meaning) and give its connotative meaning(s), those meanings that go beyond the dictionary meaning.
Denotation Townsman: 1 a: a native or resident of a town or city b: an urban or urbane person2: a fellow citizen of a town (Merriam Webster’s online dictionary)Connotation Townsman: town’s pride, like the best representative.
3. Select one image from the poem and explain how it appeals to the senses.
THE time you won your town the race
We chaired you through the market-place;
Man and boy stood cheering by,
And home we brought you shoulder-high.
This is an example of visual imagery. One can almost see the athlete being carried on some tall man’s proud shoulders all over town and people starring, cheering and clapping in admiration.
4. What would you identify as the tone of the poem? (Remember, the tone is the attitude that the writer/speaker has for her subject, audience, or herself).
There is a tone of admiration in the poem. The author is proud of the young athlete. But the author also talks in past tense so there would also be a tone of longing to the poem to try and go back to the golden and happy days. -------------------- ..sofi..
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