December 7-11
Grade 12:
Who Am I Essay: Body and Mind should be finished. Beliefs should be done by Friday. Assignment due Dec 16th--next Wednesday.
Notes on 17th Century: Age of the Stuarts and The Restoration Period.
Quiz on Wednesday,
Test on Friday.
In Class we are reading "Lycidas." A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift.
Grade Nine: Quiz on Wednesday, Test on Friday, convering Poetry Terms, and Root Words
Root Words:nom: name
Example: ignominy: disgrace, loss of reputation (loss of good name)
nominee: candidate who has been named
nom de plume: pen name
misnomer: a word used incorrectly, or a name mistakenly applied to someone
nov: new
Example: novice: new at doing something
renovate: to make like new (as in rebuild part of a house)
novelty: newness, freshness
novelist: a writer of (new) books
onym, onom: name
Example: pseudonym: pen name for an author
synonym: word meaning the same as another
antonym: word that means the opposite
homonym: word that sounds the same as another, but is spelled differently,
and has a different meaning. Ex: weir and where; two and too
anonymous: by a person of unknown name
pac, peac, peas, plac, pleas: peace, please, appease
Example: pacify: to calm down, or appease
placate: to soothe, appease, pacify
pleasantry: good-natured remark
complacent: pleased with oneself, smug, not willing to do more
Rhythm in a poem is the beat of the poetry. Different beats are used for different purposes. When students are asked to examine the rhythm of a poem, they are asked to scan the poem. There are two steps to scansion: name the predominant beat and determine the number of beats per line.
Common beats:
Iamb (adjective is iambic, as in iambic beat) (ٮ /) This is an unstressed beat (ٮ) followed by a stressed beat (/). This is the most common beat in English, because nouns often have an article in front of them and articles are not stressed. Example: the car Emphasis is on the word “car,” not “the.” This beat is used when the poetry is thoughtful, pensive, and serious.
ٮ / ٮ / ٮ / ٮ /
Example: I wan-dered lone-ly as a cloud The syllables wan, lone, as and cloud
are stressed. The stressed beats are counted, so there are four stressed beats in this line.
Trochee (adjective is trochaic, as in trochaic beat) / ٮ This is a stressed beat followed by an unstressed beat. This is not a usual rhythm in English, so it is considered irritating. This beat is used when the poet wants to anger, irritate or annoy the reader, or grab the reader’s attention. Often English names are trochaic, to make them stand out from the regular rhythm. Example: Rob-ert. The Rob is stressed.
/ ٮ / ٮ / ٮ /
Example: When the stars threw down their spears. When, stars, down and spears are emphasized.
Anapest (adjective is anapestic, as in the anapestic beat) (ٮٮ/) This is two unstressed beats (uu) followed by a stressed beat (/). This is a beat that builds suspense, or is a bit unnerving.
ٮ ٮ / ٮ ٮ / ٮ ٮ / ٮ ٮ /
Example: Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green
Dactyl (adjective is dactylic, as in the dactylic beat). (/ ٮ ٮ
This is the same as the waltz beat. It is a smooth, flowing beat, that moves the reader along in the verse in a sweeping sense. It has a 1,2,3, 1,2,3 rhythm.
/ ٮ ٮ / ٮ ٮ / ٮ ٮ /
Example: Dance to the music, O dance my dear boy
Amphibrae (adjective is amphibraic, as in the amphibraic beat) (ٮ/ٮ) Here the middle syllable is used. This beat is often mixed in with other beats to accommodate words that do not fit a regular pattern. Often used in free verse.
ٮ / ٮ
Example: defenseman
Spondee (the adjective is spondaic, as in spondaic beat). (//) This is two strong beats that are intended to stop the flow of poetry. A poet would not (or very rarely) have an entire line of spondaic beats. It would be like shouting every syllable. Usually the spondee is used with other beats.
ٮ ٮ / ٮ ٮ / / /
Example: The police man then cried, “Halt, Halt!”
This above line has two anapestic beats followed by a spondee.
Scansion: naming the number of beats and the type of beats
When asked to scan a line of poetry, students are to name the beat of the line of poetry, and determine the number of beats.
Numbers of beats:
One beat: monometer
Two beats: dimeter
Three beats: trimester
Four beats: tetrameter
Five beats: pentameter
Six beats: hexameter
Seven beats: heptameter
Eight beats: octameter
/ ٮ / ٮ / ٮ /
So the line: I wandered lonely as a cloud, would be iambic tetrameter, or four iambic beats.
