Homonym Poems!

Today we opened the class with the usual "Hello Smith" and got rolling with our agenda. Ms. Smith told us to pull out our assignment notebooks and we jotted down our homework.

Homework:

-Homonym Poem

(You must post it in the comment section before class or you won’t get credit for it)

-Picture for Photography poem (good quality picture)

Reminder:

-No grammar this week

-No test or Grammar sheets due

-No CSAP packet

Today in Class:

Today in class we read a Dylan Thomas poem called “Do Not Go Gentle into the Night.” It was about a son who told his father not to fear death. He wanted him to fight it, and not quit. Ms. Smith told us to read it through first and then she handed out a worksheet with some questions about it.

Questions:

Who is the speaker of the poem?

Whom does the speaker address? How do you know?

What is “that good night”? How does this refrain affect the mood of the poem?

What does Thomas mean by “Rage, rage against the dying of the light”?

How does the use of two refrains affect the mood and tone of the poem?

What does Thomas mean by “Though wise men at the end know dark is right”?

What does Thomas mean by “too late” in stanza four?

How would you describe the speaker’s mood in the last stanza?

How does Thomas present death in this poem?

What is Thomas’ tone or attitude toward death?

After we discussed these questions, Ms. Smith had us go to the Homonym poem blog post. The guidelines for this poem are, first you have to pick a pair of homonyms from this list, (for example a few are bear and bare, hair and hare). Second, you need to think of an emotional situation from your memory that represents how these homonyms might “speak to you.” Third, now imagine yourself coming across each of these words separately. For examples, look at the comments and use the following link about a poem by Brenda Hillman called "Cleave and Cleave". Ms. Smith gave us the rest of the period to work on our homonym poems while she started with the Wiki conferences.

Reminders and Important Dates:

-2/24 through 3/11 Wiki conferences

-3/7 through 3/11 CSAP testing

-No school Friday 3/4

Have fun writing your poems!