English I
Monday, 9/15/14
Bellringer
• (Turn in projects) Due tomorrow!– Email:
mcpheet@rcschools.net
• What interesting things did you learn about
Poe during your research? What questions
popped into your head during your
research?
Brief Poetry Lesson
• Dramatic Poetry: Dramatizes action
though dialogue or monologue
• Lyrical Poetry: Expresses Personal
thoughts and Emotions
• Narrative Poetry: Poetry-Tells a story
Narrative Poetry
• The Raven
– We will discuss tomorrow
Dramatic poetry
• A poem where the speaker is someone
other than the poet themselves. A
Dramatic poem often includes characters
and dialogue. A Dramatic Monologue is
often from a fictional character’s point of
view
• Incident in a Rose Garden
– We will discuss today!
• Refrain:
• Refrain is when a poem
repeats entire lines or
more several times
throughout.
• Like the chorus of a
song
• Repetition:
• Repetition is when a
word or phrase is
repeated just once or in
one specific area of the
poem.
• Alliteration
• Assonance
When the same
consonant sound is
used throughout a
piece of writing.
When the same vowel
sound is used in
words throughout a
piece of writing
candy covered
coconuts.
That is the way we will
pray today, okay?
Activity
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•
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Consonance
Assonance
Alliteration
Repetition
• Shel Silverstein (tomorrow)
Incident In A Rose Garden
Pg 151
English I
Background Information
• Different cultures have always imagined
death as a human figure.
• In Western culture the standard image is
often of a hooded figure dressed in black.
• Death usually carries a scythe.
• This gives us the name “Grim Reaper” ~
someone who comes to harvest human
souls.
Vocabulary
• Scythe ~ an implement with a long curved
blade attached to a long handle; used for
cutting grass for harvest.
• Connoisseur ~ an expert or authority in
some field, especially in fine arts or in
matters of taste.
Stanza One:
The gardener came running.
An old man, out of breath.
Fear had given him legs.
Sir, I encountered Death
Just now among the roses.
Thin as a scythe he stood there.
I knew him by his pictures.
He had his black coat on,
Black gloves, a broad black hat.
I think he would have spoken,
Seeing his mouth stood open.
Big it was, with white teeth.
As soon as he beckoned, I ran.
I ran until I found you.
Sir, I am quitting my job.
I want to see my sons
Once more before I die.
I want to see California.
Stanza One Explained
• The gardener comes to speak to the owner of
the house.
• He tells of seeing Death in the garden.
• Death looked like the Grim Reaper.
• Death did not speak but used his hand to try and
summon the gardener.
• The gardener ran away.
• He is quitting his job and going to California to
see his sons.
• He is afraid he will die soon and wants to say
goodbye.
Stanza Two
We shook hands; he was off.
And there stood Death in the garden.
Dressed like a Spanish waiter.
He had the air of someone
Who because he likes arriving
At all appointments early
Learns to think himself patient.
I watched him pinch one bloom off
And hold it to his nose—
A connoisseur of roses—
One bloom and then another.
They strewed the earth around him.
Sir, you must be that stranger
Who threatened my gardener.
This is my property sir.
I welcome only friends here.
Stanza Two Explained
• The owner (narrator) goes out to his
garden and sees Death.
• Death is just standing there waiting,
smelling the roses. He is very patient.
• The owner talks to Death…he tells Death
that Death is not welcome at the property.
Stanza Three
Death grinned, and his eyes lit up
With the pale glow of those lanterns
That workmen carry sometimes
To light their way through the dusk.
Now with great care he slid
The glove from his right hand
And held it out in greeting,
A little cage of bone.
Sir, I knew your father,
And we were friends at the end.
As for your gardener,
I did not threaten him.
Old men mistake my gestures.
I only meant to ask him
To show me his master.
I take it you are he?
Stanza Three Explained
• Once the narrator speaks, Death becomes more
animated.
• Death’s eyes light up and he holds out his hand
for the narrator to shake.
• Death then speaks for the first time.
• He tells the narrator that he was friends with the
narrator’s father…at the end of his life.
• He apologizes for scaring the gardener…Death
was not looking for the gardener.
• Death was looking for the narrator…it is the
narrator’s time to be “harvested.”
Comprehension Questions
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•
•
How does the gardener recognize Death?
Why is the gardener afraid of Death?
For whom has Death come?
What kind of attitude does the gardener
have about Death?
• What kind of attitude does the narrator
have about Death?
Writing Assignment
• If you were suddenly to encounter the
figure of Death, waiting for you, what do
you think he – or she—or it--- might look
like? Would it be an animal or a human?
What might it carry? What personality
would it have?
• Write 30 lines of what Death would look
like to you (poem).
• If sentences, 15 sentences