“The Cremation of Sam McGee”
Ballads
Learning Target
• Analyze characteristics of different forms of
poetry - Ballad.
• Analyze how meaning is conveyed in poetry
through word choice, poetic devices (rhyme,
rhythm, repetition, refrain) and figurative
language.
Need to know! Hyperbole
• An exaggeration that is beyond realistic.
Finish these sentences in your notes…
• It was so cold…
• It rained so hard…
• The snow was so deep…
Need to know!!! Alliteration
• Repetition of consonant sounds in words close
together in a line or lines in a poem. (Think
about tongue twisters.)
Need to know! Imagery
• Imagery are words that describe what the
senses experience. The use of words that
describe what we see, feel, smell, touch, and
taste are all examples of imagery.
• The cloud in the sky…
vs.
• The fluffy, grey cloud in the clear, blue sky…
Need to know! Word meanings…
• Denotation – Denotation refers to the actual
intended meaning/definition of a word.
• Connotation – Connotation refers to the
suggested word meaning that surround the word.
It is the feelings behind the word.
• Example – Think of colors. Yellow is the color of
lemons and sunshine, but we often associate it
with feeling happy. What is red? What feelings or
suggestions are behind the meaning of red?
Need to Know!!! MOOD
• The overall feeling of a work of literature. (Also
sometimes referred to as “atmosphere”)
• Can often be described in one or two adjectives
such as scary, happy, sad, or nostalgic.
• A writer produces mood by using imagery and
using word choices that convey a certain feeling.
• The setting can also contribute to the mood.
• Example: “The hot sun beating down on the
workers” vs. “The warm sun glowing at the
workers” creates a different mood.
Practice - Mood
• Look over the lyrics of “The Edmund
Fitzgerald”
• What word choices does the author use that
have meanings that create the mood?
(Connotations)
• What is the setting of the poem?
• What mood is created as a result of the word
choices and setting? Remember to use 1 or 2
adjectives.
“The Cremation of Sam McGee”
• Set in the Yukon (Canada) or land of the
midnight sun.
• Sam is cold and asks the ballad’s speaker, his
partner “Cap” to cremate him when he dies.
• Cap makes a promise to do so.
Cremation and Prospecting
• A cremation is the burning of a body to ashes.
– When someone dies and is cremated, they put the
body in a large furnace that has high temperatures
to make it so the body turns to ashes.
• Prospecting is where men go in search of gold
in the Yukon Territory where the temperatures
fall to minus 68 degrees at night.
Page 636
• Follow along as we read “The Cremation of
Sam McGee” by Robert W. Service
Upload Graphic Organizer
• Go to my webpage
• Go to “Poetry”
• Click on the poem on my page and open that
in Notability as well
• Click on “The Cremation of Sam McGee”
Graphic Organizer and upload it to Notability.
• Complete the graphic organizer.
In your notes…
1. What type of poem is this and how do you know?
(Look back at your notes. Find specific examples.)
2. What is the refrain of this poem?
3. Who are the characters? What do we know about
them?
4. In line 58, the author writes, “he wore a smile you
could see a mile…” What type of figurative language
is this and what effect does it have?
5. Write a summary with a topic sentence, at least
four events in CHRONOLOGICAL order from the
time they happen, and a concluding sentence.
(Share this paragraph in Google Drive.)
jrunni@mypanthers.org