Lyric Analysis Assignment 9(1) Language Arts Task: analyze a song of your choice as if it were a poem STEP ONE: Create a “key” of the poetic devices used in the poem. Your key should include a minimum of five devices—but the more, the better. Use your list of terms to help you. (devices=figurative language and musical/sound devices; NOT general terms) In your key, include an inference sentence for each device you mention, explaining the effect and/or what the poet gains by using that poetic device. This is the most important piece of the key! STEP TWO: Write an analysis of the poem’s tone and meaning. Introduction: Hook the reader’s attention, bridge to your song, mention “title” and artist and state your thesis (Your thesis statement will state the speaker’s tone and the meaning/theme of the lyrics) Body: Two paragraphs analyzing poem’s tone and meaning: EMBED QUOTES! TONE ¶: Describe the poem’s speaker (who is he is, what he’s like—make inferences) Who is the audience—the person/people the song is directed towards (“you”=?; if not mentioned, what do you think the intended audience is?) Explain the TONE conveyed by the speaker toward his subject, citing examples from the lyrics to support your opinion. MEANING¶: What is the message the writer (not speaker) is trying to convey to the listening audience through the song? Support your idea with evidence from the lyrics. Does the message have relevance to today’s world? Discuss. To what life events, current events, etc. could this poem connect? Who would like this song Why? Conclusion: Briefly summarize what you’ve said in a new/interesting way Give your overall opinion about the song. Explain your thoughts. DUE:________________________________________________________ QUALITY OF KEY—30 points CONTENT—INTELLIGENT INFERENCES FULLY EXPLAINED 60 points And ESSAY FORM—5 ¶ STRUCTURE, TRANSITIONS, ETC. GRAMMAR, MECHANICS, STYLE—10 points: EMBEDDING LYRICS Your assignment must be submitted via Turnitin.com. Hand in this rubric to me with the song’s lyrics attached. Name:_________________________ Grading Rubric Poetic device key and inferences:______/ 30A+ 28A 25B 22C 19D Examples are correctly labeled/identified Explanation of device’s meaning and effect is intelligently and thoroughly explained Sufficient number of devices identified Essay content and quality _____/60A+ 56A 52B+ 50B 46C+ 44C 19D Addresses all questions Contains insightful analysis and thorough explanation Direct support used Essay is structured effectively Grammar, mechanics, style ______/ 10 Total_____________/ 100 “I am a Rock” Poetic Device Key 1)“A winter’s day in a deep and dark December”= alliteration and imagery The repetition of the “d” sound emphasizes the setting of the song. December and winter bring on feelings of being cold. Cold often makes people think of sadness or lack of emotion, which reflect the speaker’s feelings. Darkness, the opposite of light or hope, makes the reader feel depressed. 2)“silent shroud of snow”=alliteration and metaphor The “s” sound repeated here brings attention to these lines that present a haunting image. A shroud is a cloth that is used to cover corpses before burial. By metaphorically referring to the snow as a “shroud” instead of the more common metaphor “blanket” the speaker is presenting the reader with a more depressing death-like comparison. 3)“I have my books and my poetry to protect me. I am shielded in my armor.”= metaphor Books and poetry are metaphorically compared to armor because they “protect” the speaker by “shielding” him from the reality of his loneliness and transporting him to a happier world of fiction where his troubles do not exist. This line suggests that literature is really the speaker’s only source of happiness making him seem extremely lonesome and desolate. 4) “Don’t talk of love. Though I’ve heard the word before. It’s sleeping in my memory. I won’t disturb the slumber of feelings that have died.”=personification The speaker personifies love, saying that it sleeps in his memory and that it is a feeling that has died. He means that the memory of love is faint, but not currently awake or alive. Later he suggests that he was once in love and that it ended badly (If I never loved, I never would have cried). He does not want to “disturb the slumber” of the feeling because it would only bring him pain if he thought about. 5)“And a rock feels no pain. And an island never cries”= personification and metaphor Throughout the poem the speaker has metaphorically compared himself to a rock— something tough, firm, unfeeling—and an island—something that is independent of others. These last lines, which personify the objects, help to explain why the speaker would make those comparisons. Unlike the speaker, these objects have never experienced pain or sadness. The speaker wishes he were these objects so that he would not have to suffer the pain he has gone through in his friendships (“friendship causes pain”) and romantic relationships (“If I never loved I never would have cried”). The famous poet John Donne once said that “no man is an island unto himself.” However, the speaker of Simon and Garfunkle’s “I am a Rock” would beg to differ. Contrary to Donne’s assertion, the speaker of the song believes he can isolate himself from the world as a means to shield himself from the pain that can sometimes accompany love and friendships gone sour. The speaker’s tone towards love and friendship is bitter, and his reaction to the pan in his life serves to show that sometimes when we are hurt in our relationships with others we isolate ourselves from the world in order to protect ourselves from experiencing that pain again. The speaker of the lyrics is a recluse, a man who has intentionally isolated himself from the world. He starts the song by saying he is alone in his room with only his “books and poetry” for company. Speaking to those who question his self-inflicted isolation, the speaker tries to sound strong and independent, comparing himself to a rock and an island, and claiming he has “no need of friendship” and “no one touches” (or affects) him. A closer look at the lyrics reveals that he is not impervious to pain: that he was affected negatively by his past relationships thus causing his bitter tone. He mentions that “friendship causes pain” and “if I never loved I never would have cried.” These statements show that he has experienced pain in both romantic and platonic relationships. This pain has led to his intentional isolation, his shutting out the world. He has no need for others and disdains laughter and loving. He dislikes these things because although they can bring joy, they can also bring great grief. This grief that sometimes accompanies relationships causes people to become bitter and shut out the rest of the world. Simon and Garfunkle illustrate this behavior through the speaker in their song. Having loved and lost, he now protects himself from future sorrow by not interacting with anyone at all. He talks about “shields,” “armor,” “walls,” and “wombs” that separate him from the outside world. He lives alone and finds comfort only in fiction, his poetry and books. The speaker believes that if you’re not involved in any relationships, then it is impossible for others to hurt you. This phenomenon is illustrated in high schools as clearly as it is in the song. After break ups, individuals often say “I don’t need him or her,” or “I’d rather be single anyway.” Sometimes people who have separated from friends or boyfriends isolate themselves for a while, avoiding contact with others as a way to hide their pain. People who have been treated poorly, having been teased or excluded in the past, often mistrust others and remain reclusive rather than socialize with classmates or peers. In their eyes, they’d rather be alone than face others’ cruelty or rejection. I think this song is a good reminder that we should really think about why others, or why we ourselves, sometimes choose to be alone. What pain are we protecting ourselves from? Would we rather enjoy relationships with others knowing we risk getting hurt or would we rather forgo that joy to protect ourselves from potential pain? The speaker in “I am a Rock” provides an example of the façade of strength that often hides the true sorrow and loneliness we feel when our relationships with other end badly. I can relate to the defense mechanism used by the speaker in the song. Whenever I am really hurt by someone, my instinct is to react in such a way to show that person I don’t care. I also enjoy the song because of the clever figurative language. The lyrics are filled with imagery and metaphors that convey the loneliness and strength the speaker simultaneously portrays. Of course, I love the line, “I have my books and poetry to protect me.” I, too, view literature as a great way to escape the real world. The beat of the song and its musical arrangement accentuate the lyrics in a clever way: just as the speaker tries to sound as if he is unaffected, the music is fairly upbeat for the most part, yet the last lines of the song are sung in a sad, mellow way to show how the speaker REALLY feels. Simon and Garfunkel are true artists that masterfully combined lyric and melody to produce a singular effect.
