Understanding Shakespeare “When icicles hang by the wall ......Students will work through...
Transcript of Understanding Shakespeare “When icicles hang by the wall ......Students will work through...
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English
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Understanding Shakespeare
“When icicles hang by the wall” Grade Eight
About this Lesson The activities that follow will help students begin to wrestle with complex language that may
have more than one possible interpretation or meaning. Any accessible, short Shakespearean
passage can be used to serve the same purposes. In this case, the “When icicles hang on the wall”
speech from Love’s Labor Lost allows students an opportunity to read closely and to interpret a
richly layered passage.
Passages for LTF® lessons are selected to challenge students, while lessons and activities make
texts accessible. Guided practice with challenging texts allows students to gain the proficiency
necessary to read independently at or above grade level.
This lesson is included in Module 2: Annotation and Analysis of a Text.
Technology Extension
Teachers who have website access will find an additional resource, “Technology Extension for
Understanding Shakespeare.” This lesson gives teachers a student-centered and engaging
classroom activity using technology. The students create PowerPoint presentations to illustrate
imagery in the selected poem or text. The product demonstrates student understanding of
imagery through strategic use of digital media and visual displays.
Objectives
Students will
demonstrate close reading skills through such strategies as determining author‟s purpose,
making inferences, and paraphrasing.
explain the effect of literary elements in the passage.
demonstrate understanding of sound devices.
produce style analysis of the passage.
Level
Grade Eight
Connection to Common Core Standards for English Language
The activities in this lesson allow teachers to address the following Common Core Standards for
the Eighth Grade:
Explicitly addressed in this lesson
Code CCSS Level of
Thinking
Depth of
Knowledge
RL.8.1 Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports
an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text.
Understand III
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Teacher Overview—Understanding Shakespeare
“When icicles hang by the wall”
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RL.8.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and
analyze its development over the course of the text,
including its relationship to the characters, setting,
and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.
Analyze III
RL.8.3 Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or
incidents in a story or drama propel the action,
reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.
Analyze III
RL.8.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as
they are used in a text, including figurative and
connotative meanings; analyze the impact of
specific word choices on meaning and tone,
including analogies or allusions to other texts.
Analyze III
RL.8.5 Compare and contrast the structure of two or more
texts and analyze how the differing structure of each
text contributes to its meaning and style.
Analyze III
RL.8.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend
literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in
the grades 6-8 text complexity band proficiently,
with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the
range.
Understand II
L.8.3 Use knowledge of language and its conventions
when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
a. Use verbs in the active and passive voice and
in the conditional and subjunctive mood to
achieve particular effects (e.g., emphasizing
the actor or the action; expressing
uncertainty or describing a state contrary to
the fact).
Understand II
L.8.5 Demonstrate understanding of figurative language,
word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
a. Interpret figures of speech (e.g., verbal irony,
puns) in context.
b. Use the relationship between particular
words to better understand each of the
words.
c. Distinguish among the connotations
(associations) of words with similar
denotations (definitions) (e.g., bullheaded,
willful, firm, persistent, resolute).
Understand I
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Teacher Overview—Understanding Shakespeare
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W.8.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a
topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information
through the selection, organization, and analysis of
relevant content.
a. Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is
to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and
information, into broader categories; include
formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g.,
charts, tables), and multimedia when useful
to aiding comprehension.
b. Develop the topic with relevant, well-chosen
facts, definitions, concrete details,
quotations, or other information and
examples.
c. Use appropriate and varied transitions to
create cohesion and clarify the relationships
among ideas and concepts.
d. Use precise language and domain-specific
vocabulary to inform about or explain the
topic.
e. Establish and maintain a formal style.
f. Provide a concluding statement or section
that follows from and supports the
information or explanation presented.
Create III
W.8.10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for
research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time
frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range
of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Apply III
SL.8.2 Analyze the purpose of information presented in
diverse media and formats (e.g., visually,
quantitatively, orally) and evaluate the motives (e.g.,
social, commercial, political) behind its
presentation.
Evaluate III
Implicitly addressed in lesson Code CCSS Level of
Thinking
Depth of
Knowledge
RL.8.7 Analyze the extent to which a filmed or live
production of a story or drama stays faithful to or
departs from the text or script, evaluating the
choices made by the director or actors.
Evaluate III
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Teacher Overview—Understanding Shakespeare
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L.8.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of
standard English grammar and usage when writing
or speaking.
b. Form and use verbs in the active and passive
voice.
c. Form and use verbs in the indicative,
imperative, interrogative, conditional, and
subjective mood.
d. Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in
verb voice and mood.
Understand I
L.8.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of
standard English capitalization, punctuation, and
spelling when writing.
a. Use punctuation (comma, ellipsis, dash) to
indicate a pause or break.
b. Use an ellipsis to indicate an omission.
c. Spell correctly.
Understand I
L.8.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and
multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade
8 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a
range of strategies.
a. Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a
sentence or paragraph; a word‟s position or
function in a sentence) as a clue to the
meaning of a word or phrase.
b. Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or
Latin affixes and roots as clues to the
meaning of a word (e.g., precede, recede,
secede).
c. Consult general and specialized reference
materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries,
thesauruses), both print and digital, to find
the pronunciation of a word or determine or
clarify its precise meaning or its part of
speech.
d. Verify the preliminary determination of the
meaning of a word or phrase (e.g., by
checking the inferred meaning in context or
in a dictionary).
Understand I
L.8.6 Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate
general academic and domain-specific words and
phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when
considering a word or phrase important to
comprehension or expression.
Understand II
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Teacher Overview—Understanding Shakespeare
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W.8.1 Write arguments to support claims with clear
reasons and relevant evidence.
a. Introduce claim(s), acknowledge and
distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or
opposing claims, and organize the reasons
and evidence logically.
b. Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and
relevant evidence, using accurate, credible
sources and demonstrating an understanding
of the topic or text.
c. Use words, phrases, and clauses to create
cohesion and clarify the relationships among
claims(s), counterclaims, reasons, and
evidence.
d. Establish and maintain a formal style.
e. Provide a concluding statement or section
that follows from and supports the argument
presented.
Create IV
W.8.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the
development, organization, and style are appropriate
to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific
expectations for writing types are defined in
standards 1-3 above.)
Create III
W.8.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts
to support analysis, reflection, and research.
a. Apply grade 8 Reading standards to
literature (e.g., “Analyze how a modern work
of fiction draws on themes, patterns of
events, or character types from myths,
traditional stories, or religious works such as
the Bible, including describing how the
material is rendered new”).
b. Apply grade 8 Reading standards to literary
nonfiction (e.g., “Delineate and evaluate the
argument and specific claims in a text,
assessing whether the reasoning is sound and
the evidence is relevant and sufficient;
recognize when irrelevant evidence is
introduced”).
Analyze III
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Teacher Overview—Understanding Shakespeare
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LTF Skill Focus
The foundation for LTF English lessons is the Skill Progression Chart that identifies key skills
for each domain, beginning with grade 6 and adding more complex skills at each subsequent
grade level while reinforcing skills introduced at previous grade levels. The Skill Focus for each
individual lesson identifies the skills actually addressed in that lesson.
Levels of Thinking
Remember Understand Apply Analyze Evaluate Create
Close Reading written, spoken, and visual texts
Grammar purposeful use of language for
effect
Composition written, spoken, and visual products
Reading Strategies Determining Author‟s
Purpose
Inference
Paraphrase
Literary Elements
Diction
connotation
denotation
Imagery
Mood
Tone
Sound Devices
Rhythm
Rhyme
Literary Techniques Irony
Literary Forms
Verse
Syntax Techniques
Parallelism
Polysyndeton
Repetition
Analysis of a Text Meaning and Effect related
to parts of speech,
phrases, clauses,
sentences, and syntax
Types (modes) Expository
analytical
Connections to AP* Analysis of imagery and the literary and rhetorical devices that contribute to tone is a skill that
students must demonstrate on both the free response and multiple choice sections of AP English
Literature and AP English Language exams. The Literature exam contains a free response
prompt and multiple choice questions on poetry, so it is critical that students develop an
understanding of analysis and language specific to poetry.
*Advanced Placement and AP are registered trademarks of the College Entrance Examination Board. The College
Board was not involved in the production of this product.
Materials and Resources
Copy of the “Understanding Shakespeare” student lesson
Technology Extension available on LTF website
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Teacher Overview—Understanding Shakespeare
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Assessments The following kinds of formative assessments are embedded in this lesson:
guided questions
writing assignment
Teaching Suggestions
Students will work through activities to help them analyze diction, imagery, sound devices, and
structure in the poem taken from Love’s Labors Lost, by William Shakespeare. Teachers will
find a variety of strategies embedded in the lesson, ranging from a graphic organizer to a
paraphrasing activity.
Answers: Many of the answers for this lesson are subjective and will vary. The following
suggestions are offered to guide teachers in determining acceptable answers, but, to obtain the
maximum benefit of the lesson, teachers should ask students to go beyond the expected response.
1. Look up the word “brooding.” Based on the context, what two different definitions of the
word might Shakespeare want readers to consider? Answers will vary.
One definition of “to brood” is to sit on or hatch eggs, so Shakespeare may be creating an
image of birds actually sitting on nests of eggs in the snow. Another definition of “to
brood” is to loom or to hover over, with a fairly negative connotation as in “to threaten.”
This is a possibility as well, although there‟s little evidence of the birds posing a threat. A
third definition of “to brood” is to meditate or to think moodily about something.
Shakespeare may also have wanted readers to personify these birds who must stay
outdoors in such foul weather, as if they might be pouting or dismayed over having to
endure the snow and cold.
2. Why would a poet choose to use a word with multiple meanings? Answers will vary.
Poets use specially chosen words for effect and to suggest multiple layers of meaning
through the various denotations. These double- and triple-meaning words are interesting
in their complexity. Everyone makes the connection of “brooding” and birds sitting on a
nest full of eggs, but then we consider an alternate meaning and realize we‟re not quite
sure what the author actually intended, and if he intended many different meanings at the
same time, well, isn‟t that clever? Poets play with words, sometimes for the sake of
enhanced powers of suggestion, sometimes for an ironic effect, sometimes simply to raise
a question in the reader‟s mind.
3. What is ironic about the use of the words “merry” and “sings” when describing the sound the
owl makes? Answers will vary.
The owl is a nocturnal hunter and his purpose for staying awake is to prey on rodents and
other small creatures for his dinner. So in many ways, his “song” is a death-noise, hardly
merry. In some cultures, the song of the owl signals impending death of a person nearby,
and many believe the owl calls the name of the soul of one who will soon depart this
earth, as in Margaret Craven‟s novel I Heard the Owl Call My Name. Many other
cultures around the world view the owl and his song as harbingers of evil and doom. So
to refer to his song as “merry” is contradictory to the typical view.
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4. Fill in the chart with images that appeal to the different senses. Answers will vary.
Sight “icicles hang”
“Dick the shepherd blows his nail”
“milk comes frozen home in pail”
“greasy Joan doth keel the pot”
“birds sit brooding”
“Marian‟s nose looks red and raw”
Touch “blood is nipped”
“greasy Joan”
Taste
Smell “ways be foul”
“greasy Joan”
Hearing “nightly sings the staring owl”
“Tu-whit, to-who!”
“the wind doth blow”
“coughing drowns the parson‟s saw”
“roasted crabs hiss in the bowl”
5. Highlight in yellow the images that suggest a positive feeling.
6. Highlight in green the images that suggest a negative feeling.
7. Based on the images, what inferences can you make about the speaker‟s attitude toward
winter?
The speaker seems to associate the cold of winter with all things unpleasant. The milk
freezes in the pail before being carried to the kitchen from the barn, and the women are
either greasy (because it‟s probably too cold to bathe) or have raw, red noses on their
less-than-pretty faces. He even states directly “ways be foul.” The only somewhat
uplifting image is the sound of the owl, but ironically the “merry” song is quite likely a
harbinger of death. The wind blows hard, everyone‟s blood is freezing, and coughing and
accompanying illness all contribute to the misery of the winter months.
8. Shakespeare uses concrete images to show rather than tell what winter is like. Complete
the following on a separate sheet of paper.
a. Rewrite this poem as a paragraph telling about winter. Answers will vary.
b. Explain why it is more interesting to read something that shows rather than tells.
Answers will vary.
c. Describe summer by showing it through concrete images, rather than telling about it.
Answers will vary.
9. What rhyming pattern appears in the first six lines?
a-b-a-b-c-c
10. Is this pattern repeated in lines 10-15? Justify your answer.
Yes. The pattern is a-b-a-b-c-c again.
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11. Slant rhyme or approximate rhyme occurs when words almost rhyme. Often these words
look like they rhyme, but do not sound the same. Quote an example of slant rhyme from
the poem.
“A merry note,/While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.”
12. A refrain is a repeated line or group of lines in a word or poem. Quote the refrain from
“When icicles hang by the wall.”
“Then nightly sings the staring owl,
„Tu-whit, tu-who!”
A merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.”
13. What is the effect of the refrain on the mood? Answers will vary.
The refrain interjects a more light-hearted image with the actual “merry” sound of the
owl and continues with a somewhat humorous or mocking image of a “greasy Joan”
stirring the pot. The other images before the refrain in each stanza are negative and
unpleasant.
14. Study the first word of each line of the poem. Write three observations about the
structure.
Answers will vary.
a. The poem is based on a list of various images.
b. The structure is based upon cause and effect (When, and, and, and, then…).
c. The second stanza is structurally a mirror image of the first stanza and accomplishes
exactly the same thing the first stanza accomplishes.
15. Select one observation above and explain how or why the structure adds to the effect of
the poem. Answers will vary.
The listing of the many images, almost all of which are quite unpleasant to contemplate,
emphasizes the bitterness of winter and all that human beings (at least in Shakespeare‟s
time) had to endure. Winter consists of one obstacle after another for most. Even the call
of the owl signaling impending death might provide hope for relief from the pain of life
in the world of winter.
16. Write a paragraph in which you explain how Shakespeare‟s choice of images reflects his
attitude toward winter. Answers will vary.
English
Copyright © 2011 Laying the Foundation®, Inc., Dallas, TX. All rights reserved. Visit us online at www.ltftraining.org
Understanding Shakespeare: “When icicles hang by the wall” Grade Eight
Read the poem/song below and paraphrase it line by line. Answer the questions that follow.
Poem Paraphrase
When icicles hang by the wall,
And Dick the shepherd blows his nail,
And Tom bears logs into the hall,
And milk comes frozen home in pail,
5 When blood is nipped, and ways be foul,
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
“Tu-whit, tu-who!”
A merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel* the pot.
10 When all aloud the wind doth blow,
And coughing drowns the parson’s saw*,
And birds sit brooding in the snow,
And Marian’s nose looks red and raw,
When roasted crabs* hiss in the bowl,
15 Then nightly sings the staring owl,
“Tu-whit, tu-who!”
A merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
*keel – cool by stirring
*saw – wise saying
*crabs – crab apples
Diction
1. Look up the word “brooding.” Based on the context, what two different definitions of the
word might Shakespeare want readers to consider?
2. Why would a poet choose to use a word with multiple meanings?
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Student Activity—Understanding Shakespeare “When icicles hang by the wall”
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3. What is ironic about the use of the words “merry” and “sings” when describing the sound the
owl makes?
Imagery
4. Fill in the chart with images that appeal to the different senses.
Sense First Stanza Second Stanza Sight
Touch
Taste
Smell
Hearing
5. Highlight in yellow the images that suggest a positive feeling.
6. Highlight in green the images that suggest a negative feeling.
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Student Activity—Understanding Shakespeare “When icicles hang by the wall”
Copyright © 2011 Laying the Foundation®, Inc., Dallas, TX. All rights reserved. Visit us online at www.ltftraining.org
7. Based on the images, what inferences can you make about the speaker’s attitude toward
winter? Justify your answer.
8. Shakespeare uses concrete images to show rather than tell what winter was like. Complete the
following on a separate sheet of paper.
a. Rewrite this poem as a paragraph telling about winter.
b. Explain why it is more interesting to read something that shows rather than tells.
c. Describe summer by showing it through concrete images, rather than telling about it.
Musical or Sound Devices
9. What rhyming pattern appears in the first six lines?
10. Is this pattern repeated in lines 10–15? Justify your answer.
11. Slant rhyme or approximate rhyme occurs when words almost rhyme. Often these words look
like they rhyme, but do not sound the same. Quote an example of slant rhyme from the poem.
12. A refrain is a repeated line or group of lines in a word or poem. Quote the refrain from
“When icicles hang by the wall.”
13. What is the effect of the refrain on the mood?
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Student Activity—Understanding Shakespeare “When icicles hang by the wall”
Copyright © 2011 Laying the Foundation®, Inc., Dallas, TX. All rights reserved. Visit us online at www.ltftraining.org
Structure
14. Study the first word of each line of the poem. Write three observations about the structure.
a.
b.
c.
15. Select one of the observations above and explain how or why the structure adds to the effect
of the poem.
16. Write a paragraph in which you explain how Shakespeare’s choice of images reflects his
attitude toward winter.
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