On Friday, all students worked with relatively new material; today, we worked on applying it.

English I students (fourth and fifth periods) worked on analyzing a poem in terms of the connotations of certain words to see if there is a somewhat different meaning hidden just below the surface. For this, we used Theodore Roethke’s poem “My Papa’s Waltz” to examine the role connotation can play.

There are certainly some dark overtones with the use of words like “death” and “battered,” but a closer look at the poem and the fact that the mother is simply frowning and that the father puts the son to bed suggests that contrary to initial interpretations, it’s not a poem with hidden meanings about abuse. Certainly, all is not perfect in the family, and there are some connotations of something darker lurking under this surface, but this simply combines with the positive imagery to create a certain ambiguity in the poem.

English 8 students did a quick review of fragments (it seems we’re good to go with fragments) before looking at the novel we’re reading, Nightjohn, to see how the author includes fragments in the narrative. Tomorrow we’ll be looking at how this contributes to voice and then starting a major writing project examining the ways the author creates a convincing voice of a slave girl.

Homework

• English 8: 
  • work on chapter 1 comprehension questions for Nightjohn as necessary (if you have an NHI, email Mr. Scott when complete);
  • work on chapter 2 comprehension questions for Nightjohn as needed.
• English I Honors: 
  • review for parts of speech test next week as necessary;
  • work on paragraph evaluation as necessary.