Blogger #13
Mandy Chen
Period 5
11/24/20 Cycle B
Freshmen Lit 2021
Aim: How does Edgar Allan Poe’s, “The Bells” convey and reinforce the meaning of the life cycle through his choice of poetic sound devices?
General Preview: Today’s english lesson revolves around the American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic Edgar Allen Poe. Our do now activity is an augur of what is in store in this lesson. Through our readings of two of Poe’s literary work “Oh Woe is Poe” and “The Bells” students gain a steady comprehension of Edgar Allen’s life and poems. Students are able to review important poetic devices and sounds and utilize this knowledge to break down Edgar’s “The Bells” poem .
Do now: (TEAM CHALLENGE) Create a list of ALL the kinds/types of bells you’ve ever heard. The Team to create a list with the most amount WINS the points!!! You have only 2 Minutes!
Beginning the lesson with a competitive spirit, students are broken up into their designated breakout rooms according to the team they are in for this activity. Acknowledging the limited time, my breakout room began discussing and brainstorming different types of bells. As the breakout rooms came to an end, we totaled up to 8 bells.
In the main room, each group shared the amount of bells they had come up with. Results were team 1 with 10 bells, my team with 8 bells, team 3 with a grand 15 bells, team 4 with 10, and team 5 also having 15 bells. With these statistics in mind, it was a tie between team 4 and 5 thus points were split evenly. Below is a list of the mentioned bells.
School Bell
Church Bell
Wedding Bell
Doorbell
Bicycle Bell
Alarm Clock
Call Bells
Sleigh Bell
Minecraft Bell
Standing Bell
Christmas Bell
Dismissal Bell
Cow Bell
Late Bell
Cat Bell
Slide Two: After completion of the Do Now, the lesson begins with a spirit reading of “Oh Woe is Poe” by Edgar Allen Poe.
Below is a linked PDF of the reading.
The short reading is about Edgar Allen Poe and his tragic story with death or his “woes.” Beginning at a young age, Edgar experienced multiple deaths throughout his life due to tuberculosis. From the reading, it is generalized that Edgar led an unlucky life causing him to write poems about his life although he was not paid well. Troubled by his woes, Edgar became an alcoholic consuming amounts that inevitably led to his death. At least, this was one of the theories with the other being that his cause of death was through rabies.
Once the story was finished being read, students were asked to examine the following images on slide to and create a correlation between each image to the story “Oh, Woe is Poe.”
The correlation between the rabies and Edgar Allen Poe is that people suspected rabies was the cause of his death although there is no final solution of his death. The racoon saying it wasn’t me reveals that it could’ve been another cause. Alcohol relates that Allen Poe turned to alcohol a lot and he was sensitive to getting drunk. Correlating to the fraud, Allen Poe would dress up differently in order to get more alcohol. The graveston reveals that Allen Poe experienced a lot of deaths throughout his life especially with his loved ones. Edgar Allen Poe was the first to ever write a detective story revolving around August which correlates to the detective image shown.
Slides 3, 4, & 5: Poetic sound devices
In the next three slides, students review over poetic sound devices and how these devices may be utilized by authors to convey or reinforce their message.
Slide 3 starts off with cacophony and examples of it. Cacophony derives from the greek word “bad sound” involving a harsh, discordant mixture of sounds. Think of cars honking, people yelling, etc. as cacophonous noises.
To utilize cacophony in writing...
Explosive Constants (k, t, g, d, p, b, q, c, x, ch-, sh-)
Hissing Sounds: (ch-, sh, and s)
Cacophony may be used by authors to convey negative feelings, loud noises, chaos, fear, etc.
Think/Pair/Share: Highlight or underline words that are cacophonous, in the following examples.
“Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!” (“The Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll
“I gave him a description of cannons, culverins, muskets, carabines, pistols, bullets, powder, swords, bayonets, battles, sieges, retreats, attacks, undermines, countermines, bombardments…” (Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift)
The Think/Pair/Share activity at the end of slide 3 tested our knowledge of identifying cacophony within literature.
Slide 4 continues onto the next sound device which is euphonious. Euphonious involves sounds that are pleasant or soothing thus making it the opposite of cacophony.
To utilize euphony in writing...
It includes all the vowels
Harmonious consonants (l, m, n, r and softer f and v, sounds).
Soft consonants or semi-vowels (w, s, y and th or wh)
Euphony is used by authors to make language sound beautiful or melodic in order to emphasize the attractiveness, pleasantness of something.
Think/Pair/Share: Highlight or underline words that are euphonious, in the following examples.
“Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” (“Ode to Autumn” by John Keats)
“While the stars that oversprinkle/All the heavens seem to twinkle” (“The Bells” by Edgar Allen Poe)
Once again, students are encouraged to present understanding of the topic covered through the Think/Pair/Share activity where students have to identify euphony in a short quotation.
Slide 4 elaborates even more on poetic sound devices introducing alliteration, onomatopoeia, repetition, and rhyme. Definition of each device is provided alongside with an example and a video link explaining the concept of the specific device.
Alliteration: A stylistic device in which consecutive words or words that occur close together in a series all begin with the same first consonant letter or sound
Example: Jackrabbits jump and jiggle jauntily.
A video explaining alliteration: Red Room Poetry Object Poetic Device #1: Alliteration [2:00] is shown for further comprehension.
Onomatopoeia: A word which imitates the natural sound of a thing.
Example: The buzzing bee flew by
Example: The rustling leaves kept me awake.
A video explaining onomatopoeia: Red Room Poetry Object Poetic Device #4: Onomatopoeia [2:36] is presented to further explain onomatopoeia.
Repetition: Repeating words, phrases, lines, or stanzas. Repetition is used to emphasize a feeling or idea, create rhythm, and/or develop a sense of urgency
Example: Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.
Rhyme: a repetition of similar sounds in two or more words (especially common at the ends of words). Rhyme is pleasing the ear and also lends a sense of rhythm and order to the language.
Perfect rhyme occurs when stressed syllables of the words, along with all subsequent syllables, share identical sounds (ex: pencil" and "stencil”)
Imperfect rhyme or “slant rhyme” involves the repetition of similar sounds that are not quite as precise as perfect rhyme (ex: “uptown” and “frown”)
To wrap up poetic devices, we watched a video linked: The pleasure of poetic pattern - David Silverstein [4:46. The video briefs over repetition and its impact in writing. A balance act must be performed by poets to know when to riff and when to repeat to emphasize hidden concepts or meanings. Including too many repetitions thwarts the criteria of a meaningful poem thus variety is critical.
Slides 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11: “The Bell” by Edgar Allen Poe.
With the concept of each different poetic device fresh in our minds, we moved onto the reading of “The Bells” by Edgar Allen Poe. Students are annotating and taking notices of poetic devices while listening to an audio reading of the story.
“The Bells” By Edgar Allan Poe (YouTube)
"The Bells" By Edgar Allen Poe PDF
Slide 12: Graphic Organizer Analysis of “The Bells”
A graphic organizer is presented on the next slide for each stanza of the poems. Students are to work together in breakout rooms to complete the graphic organizer based on the reading of “The Bells” by Edgar Allen Poe.
Utilizing our knowledge of poetic devices, my group pointed out ones we noticed in the poem during our reading. Through the sound devices, we generalized the mood of each stanza and how the sound devices contributed.
Slide 13 & 14: (Team Groupwork) Short Responses Based on “The Bells”
1. Analyze the first two stanzas. How do they compare, in terms of similarity?
The first two stanzas, in terms of similarity, share many common traits in both the mood and sound devices involved. For instance, the general mood of stanza one and two were positive. Both the silver and golden bells were described by the author to have a pleasant sound. To create these moods, both stanzas incorporate euphonious words such as “twinkle” in stanza one and “chiming” in stanza two.
2. Now, compare the bells in stanzas 1 and 2 with the bells in stanzas 3 and 4. How does Poe's mood shift in his poem?
Poe’s poem shifts mood through the difference of the bells in stanzas 1 and 2 with the bells in stanzas 3 and 4. The mood of the first two stanzas were positive with the bells described to be melodious sounding. However, the brazen bells in stanza 3 take a turn. Instead of pleasant sounds, the brazen bells had been described with cacophonous words such as “clang” and “clash.” Additionally, stanza 4 continues this pattern of cacophony introducing the iron bells with dictions implying that the bells “sobbed” and “groaned.”
3. How does Poe use sound devices to imitate the sound of bells?
Compile a list of the devices you believe he used.
Poe utilizes sound devices such as onomatopoeia to imitate the sound of bells. More sound devices utilized in this poem are alliteration, rhymes, and repetition. For example, onomatopoeia is used in stanza 1 with the word “jingling” to imitate the sound of the silver bell. Furthermore, repetition in stanza 3 “shriek, shriek..” emphasizes the cacophonous sound of the brazen bells.
4. This poem is as much about sound as it is about meaning.
Why do you think Poe places a heavy emphasis on sound in this poem?
What message does it help to express?
How is this poem symbolically a metaphor for life?
Poe places heavy emphasis on sound in the poem to place importance to readers on how these sounds may correlate to a deeper meaning. For instance, it brings out the differences in the sounds of bells in each stanza and the mood that associates with the sounds. The message the sounds help express throughout the poem is the joyfulness of youth to sorrowness and mourning of death. This poem is symbolically a metaphor for life as it expresses the joyfulness of life in the beginning such as the first two stanzas. Then, the sorrowness of death with the last two stanzas.
Reflection:
In this lesson, I was able to go in depth on poetic devices and the impacts they have on conveying a meaning especially in poetry. Starring the poet Edgar Allen Poe, I was able to glimpse into his tragic life and how it influenced his style of writing. Furthermore, each poetic sound device was put on the spotlight and reviewed. These sound devices were Cacophony, Euphonious, Alliteration, Onomatopoeia, Repetition and Rhyme. With comprehension of these devices, I was able to take “The Bells” by Edgar Allen Poe and recognize the different devices used and its effect. Alongside my team members, we were able to apply our knowledge of poetic devices to fill out the graphic organizer about “The Bells” as well as recognize the hidden meaning.
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