English 11
Unit 3, Lesson 12, 13 & 14
Big Wind
Responding to the Selection
Your Response:
1. It is kind of hard to understand what the speaker is trying to explain in this poem and
therefore it was hard for me to visualize the events. ok
2. The ending of the poem gave me a sense of relief because the old rose house and
everything in it with it. √
Recalling:
3. The greenhouse was wind and rain beaten but it survived the challenge. √
4. A steaming machine or sorts was used to keep the plants warm from the storm. √ burlap
stuffed in cracks & holes in the glass
Interpreting:
5. The greenhouse is compared to a rider, a plough, a bucking animal (probably a horse),
and a ship/boat throughout the poem. √
6. The poet refers to the greenhouse as she instead of it because he wants to show how
important the rose-house is to him and because roses are grown inside (and roses are
very feminine). Custom to refer to all sailing vessels with the pronoun ‘she’
7. The whole poem is about a storm and gives off an apprehensive mood until the last two
lines. Then the poem’s mood changes to that of calmness √
Applying:
8. My cousin and her husband of two years seem to function like one person. They finish
each others’ sentences, read each others’ minds, and get along so well together. They
are both dedicated to their marriage, their families and friends and that I believe is the
key to their “oneness.” √
6/8
Analyzing Literature
Understanding Imagery:
1. “Watching the pressure gauge” and “Cracking so much thin glass” are two phrases that
contain sensory images that appeal to the reader’s sense of sight. √
2. “Whistling thinly under the wind-vents” and “As the seams hissed” are two other phrases
that contain sensory images for the reader’s sense of hearing. √
2/2
Loss
Responding to the Selection
Your Response:
1. Weather is often another way of describing feelings so when the weather changes in a
poem or story so does the feeling that is set off. For example, a storm can represent
danger while sunshine can refer to happiness. √
Recalling:
2. The sun falling (a.k.a. sunset) and half-wind (a.k.a. breeze) are the two natural forces at
work in the poem. √
3. The details of the flowers are less noticeable during sunset and the petals blow the way
the wind is going. √
Interpreting:
4. In lines 5-17 the flowers slowly become less noticeable during the sunset and then the
petals blow away with the breeze that suddenly comes along. √
5. Words such as lose, falls, lift and go create the contrast in imagery between the two
parts of the poem. √
6. Having absolutely no punctuation gives a mood of rush and speed to all that happens in
the poem. √
7.
The loss in the poem (and to which the title refers to) is that of the fine detail not
noticeable in the dark and later the flower petals. √
Applying:
8. A [natural] flood would go with the title of this poem because the flowers would be
washed away or crushed under the weight of the water. √
8/8
Afterglow
Responding to the Selection
Your Response:
1. A sunset to me means peace and quiet –perhaps even romance. √
Recalling:
2. When the sun does finally set and can no longer be seen only the afterglow of orangey
colors are left…and then eventually darkness. √
Interpreting:
3. Sunset is disturbing because of the fear that almost every human has of the dark that
follows. √
4. When the speaker says “hard holding on to that light” I believe he is referring to how no
one can make a sunset last forever or stop the darkness that follows. √
5. Because that is the moment when humans start hallucinating. √
6. Both a dreamer and a person who can no longer hold on the sight he has described know
that both the dream and the sight must come to an end and yet that doesn’t mean they
are the last ones to be dreamed or witnessed. √
Applying:
7. Last summer I went to Watson Lake, Yukon on a mission trip with over 20 other people
from my church. On the way there and back two weeks later, we stopped at an all natural
hot springs. There were many different levels; each level was a different heat ranging
from practically cold to boiling. It was a peaceful experience which I’m looking forward to
doing again this year. √
7/7
Analyzing Literature
Examining an Image:
1. I don’t fully understand this question. The pomp and glamour of the setting sun are not
left
2. The image in line 5 tells readers that the world is a rusty color due to the lack of bright
sunlight and the effects of the sunset. √
1/2
Critical Thinking and Reading
Analyzing the Overtones of an Image:
1. The speaker says that hallucination starts during the last part of the sunset and ends
when the hallucinator realizes that he is just imagining things. √
2. The implication of darkness is associated with the word hallucination. Image claims that
the glow turns the plain to a rust color.
3. This implication almost makes the fear of darkness set in…but then it remarks on a
dreamer’s dream ending when he realizes he’s dreaming and the same goes for
hallucinating. √
2/3
Big Wind Theodore H. Roethke ...............................................................(text page 622)
Less A.R. Ammons...................................................................................(text page 623)
Afterglow Jorge Borges ...........................................................................(text page 624)
The Extended Metaphor
An extended metaphor explores at length a comparison between dissimilar things. The
juxtaposition of different things invites the readers to look at the writer's subject in a fresh
light. Because we are surprised to see two unrelated things linked, the subject suddenly
stands out in our imaginations. If it were associated with only familiar things, we might
not see it so clearly.
Answer the following questions about the extended metaphor in "Big Wind."
1. What are the similarities between a ship and the greenhouse?
Both the greenhouse and a ship have storms to battle. √
2. How are a ship and a greenhouse dissimilar?
A ship sails on water while a greenhouse stands on land. √
3. Why does the speaker feel as if the greenhouse is a ship?
The speaker feels that the greenhouse is like a ship because both must fight wind
and rain. √
The Extended Metaphor (U03L10a)
An extended metaphor explores at length a comparison between dissimilar things. The
juxtaposition of different things invites the readers to look at the writer's subject in a fresh
light. Because we are surprised to see two unrelated things linked, the subject suddenly
stands out in our imaginations. If it were associated with only familiar things, we might
not see it so clearly.
Answer the following questions about the extended metaphor in "Big Wind."
1. What are the similarities between a ship and the greenhouse?
Big size; heavy weight; self-contained; both contain valuable contents, are meant to
protect cargo against the elements, offer partial shelter to people inside, and are
surrounded by elements.
2. How are a ship and a greenhouse dissimilar?
A ship moves, whereas a greenhouse is stationary; a ship’s cargo does not change en
route, but a greenhouse’s contents grow as time passes; a ship is not fragile, whereas
a greenhouse is mostly glass.
3. Why does the speaker feel as if the greenhouse is a ship?
The speaker is inside the greenhouse, fighting the storm that surrounds it, as if he
were a captain struggling to keep a ship from taking on water or being wrecked
during a storm.
Identifying Sensory Words (U03L10b)
Words that stimulate the reader's imagination by appealing to the senses help to make a
literary work powerful. Instead of using ordinary language that readers may take for
granted, the writer chooses words that make a vivid impression. They need not be long or
obscure in meaning. They should, however, be striking.
On the following lines, list the vivid verbs, adjectives, and nouns in Theodore Roethke's
poem that appeal to the senses. Also list some vivid words that summarize the overall
effect of his poem.
1. Verbs
lunging, driving, pumping, waver, hissed, drove, creaking, cracking, stuffing, hove,
ploughing, bucking, broke, flailing, flinging, veering, whistling, sailed
2. Adjectives
lashing, stale, rusty, live, worst, thin, old, ugly, stiff, calm
3. Nouns
burlap, teeth, core, pith, storm, prow, spray, strings, cargo, roses
4. Summary words
cold, wet, stormy, shivery, shuddering, relieved
Understanding Mood (U03L11a)
Mood is the atmosphere or tone of a literary work. Subtle changes in mood lend tension
and pace to a work whose surface and plot may be undramatic. Superficially, "The Fish"
is simple: Someone catches a fish, then lets it go. But there is drama underneath.
Answer the following questions about Elizabeth Bishop's poem.
Suggested responses:
1. What mood does the first line suggest?
The speaker feels proud at having landed such a big fish.
2. How does the speaker feel in lines 7 through 26?
Detached. The speaker observes the outside of the fish in meticulous detail.
3. What change begins to occur in lines 27 through 33?
The speaker’s imagination begins to work. She or he speculates about the inside of
the fish. But the mood is still clinical.
4. How does the mood develop in lines 34 through 46?
The speaker’s imagination begins to make contact with the fish. Instead of being
detached, the mood is more reflective and more personal.
5. How does the description in lines 47 through 64 change the atmosphere?
The fish seems to gain stature. The speaker and reader feel growing respect for it,
because it is a veteran who has escaped from five previous captors, like an old soldier
who has survived many battles.
6. How is the mood heightened by lines 65 through 67 and 74 through 75?
The speaker’s exhilaration reaches a peak. She or he has succeeded where five others
have failed.
7. What in the last line creates a sharp change in mood?
The triumphant atmosphere has been built as high as it can go. Now it is surpassed
by a dramatic and surprising gesture. The switch from conquering the fish to freeing
it is a powerful climax to the poem.
Usage and Mechanics Worksheet (U03L13a)
The following sentences are from a first draft of an essay about the Shakespeare and
Wylie poems. Correct all usage and mechanics errors. The number in parentheses
indicates the number of corrections to be made.
1. The speaker in Shakespeare’s’ Ssonnet is enthused enthusiastic about the person to
who him who he is talking. Being that Because the belovedly person is most more
lovely than a summer’s day, the speaker found finds fault with summer. (9)
2. While the speaker’s freind friend in “Shall I Compare tThee to a Summer’s Day?”?
is always beautifull, Ssummer has a lot of things wrong with it: it’s too short, two too
hot, and oftener not sonny sunny. The beloved is extremely unique. (16)
3. In the poem “Puritan sSonnet,” the speaker doesn’t like richness. This person
thought thinks that too much of something is not healthy healthful. However, it
could be argued that the speaker is not healthful healthy. (8)
4. The affect effect of Wylie’s’ poem is as like the feeling of winter. Like As you read
her sonnet, you can’t help but sea seeing the bear bare landscape whom that she
describes. The Ppoet’s philosophy seams seems to be the less fewer trees, the fewer
less color, the more better (13)
Analyzing Literature Worksheet
Understanding the Shakespearean Sonnet (U03L13b)
Read the following sonnet by William Shakespeare. Then answer the questions about the
sonnet.
When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless1 cries,
And look upon myself, and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possess’d,
Desiring this man’s art, and that man’s scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply2 I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen3 earth, sings hymns at heaven’s gate:
For they sweet love rememb’red such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.
1
bootless: futile, useless
2
haply: perhaps, by chance
3
sullen: gloomy, sluggish
Suggested responses:
1. What is the speaker’s mood in the first quatrain?
Isolated (or despairing)
2. In the second quatrain, how does the speaker view other people’s lives?
enviously
3. What change occurs in the third quatrain?
The speaker thinks about a loved one and becomes joyous.
4. What does the concluding couplet mean?
Love makes the speaker feel so rich that all envy disappears.
Understanding Free Verse (U03L14a)
Free verse has a natural feeling that can sound like everyday conversation. Yet it can be
as skillful and subtle as other kinds of poetry in creating a sense of character and mood.
Answer the following questions about "Ex-Basketball Player."
1. What kind of future do you think the poem's main character has?
Bleak. His days of glory are over. He has not prepared for life after his basketball
days and will probably keep working at the garage.
2. How is his future suggested by the description of Pearl Avenue in the first stanza?
Pearl Avenue “stops, cut off / Before it has a chance to go two blocks….” The street
is a dead end and therefore a symbol of Webb’s future.
3. How does Flick Webb seem to feel about his life?
Not happy. Aimless. Tense.
4. Which lines of the poem suggest the way he feels?
“Off work, he hangs around…. / Grease-gray and kind of coiled…. / Flick and
seldom says a word….”
5. What is meant by "bright applauding tiers / Of Necco Wafers, Nibs, and Juju Beads"?
Once, rows of cheering fans watched Webb play. Now he faces only rows of candy.
6. What mood is created by the poem as a whole?
Sadness. Anticlimax. A lively, heroic past ahs become a gray present, and there is
little apparent hope for the future.
Recognizing Colloquial Language (U03L14b)
As John Updike's poem shows, colloquial or informal language can be as rich in meaning
as formal diction is.
Write the meaning of the following colloquial words and phrases that appear in "ExBasketball Player."
1. "the idiot pumps / ...old bubble-head style."
Gasoline pumps with bubble-shaped tops resemble people with no brains.
2. "rubber elbows"
the gas pumps’ curving hoses
3. "One's nostrils are two S's, and his eyes / An E and O."
Because the pumps resemble people, they have “faces.” The brand name “ESSO”
provides the features on a “face.”
4. "changes flats"
replaces flat tires on cars
5. "dribbles an inner tube"
bounces the tube as if it were a basketball and he were a player advancing or keeping
control of it
Big Wind Theodore H. Roethke ...............................................................(text page 622)
Less A.R. Ammons...................................................................................(text page 623)
Afterglow Jorge Borges ...........................................................................(text page 624)
Identifying Sensory Words
Words that stimulate the reader's imagination by appealing to the senses help to make a
literary work powerful. Instead of using ordinary language that readers may take for
granted, the writer chooses words that make a vivid impression. They need not be long or
obscure in meaning. They should, however, be striking.
On the following lines, list the vivid verbs, adjectives, and nouns in Theodore Roethke's
poem that appeal to the senses. Also list some vivid words that summarize the overall
effect of his poem.
1. Verbs
going, lunging, driving, stopped, drained, pumping, watching, waver, hissed, drove,
creaking, cracking, stuffing, rode, ploughing, bucking, flailing, flinging, veering,
whistling, sailed, carrying
2. Adjectives
lashing, stale, rusty, live, worst, cypress, thin, rose-, manure-, ugly, stiff, long, wet,
thinly, calm
3. Nouns
greenhouse, wind, water, river, faucets, -machine, plant,mizture, boilers, pressure
gauge, seams, steam, -house, window-frames, glass, night, holes, burlap, teeth,
storm, prow, wind-waves, spray, sides, strings, roof-top, wind-vents, morning,
cargo, roses
4. Summary words
lunging, lashing, driving, waver, creaking, cracking, hove into the teeth, ugly storm,
stiff, flailing, flinging, finally veering, whistling, sailed until the calm morning,
carrying her…cargo