Aim: How does a writer create effects through the connotations of words and images?
Do now: Describe an event in your life that at first seemed like fun, yet after the incident concluded you were ashamed or disappointed with yourself. Why do you believe you felt that way?
For the do now, we had an entire class discussion where Ms. Peterson asked us if we could recollect any short events in our lives that seemed fun at first, yet after the event we were ashamed or disappointed with ourselves. This discussion is relevant because it connects to the story “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier, a story where the narrator finally realises she was approaching the end of her childhood and entering her womanhood after doing something that she regretted. Most students in the class couldn’t remember any specific events, but at one point in their lives almost everyone did something that they were ashamed of. One response in particular was from Ms. Peterson herself who painted her piano using hot pink nail polish which she immediately regretted afterwards, given that her mom was extremely upset with her.
Kahoot
After the do now, we had a 15-question Kahoot based on the story. The top three students would receive points for their teams. The top student was Eleanor who earned 50 points for her team followed by Annie and Joel who earned 40 and 30 points for their teams respectively. The Kahoot was then graded as a quiz to assess our understanding of the text based on annotations we had done for homework before the class.
Team Collaboration
After the Kahoot concluded, we split up into our breakout rooms and were asked to complete 6 questions based upon our understanding of Marigolds as a team. This prompt was specifically made for group work and our collective collaboration was vital in getting all of the questions answered on time. The annotations also helped us greatly because we could always return to them whenever we needed to find a theme or a message in the story. It was much more efficient than going through the story manually and analysing it on the spot.
1. In Paragraph 22, why are the marigolds so important to Miss Lottie, and why do the children hate them?
What stands out about the imagery in paragraphs 22 and 27?
The marigolds are so important to Miss Lottie because it represents her remaining happiness and passion. Life had worn her out over the years and she wanted to create something that was beautiful amongst all of the bleakness and despair of the town during the Great Depression. The children hate the marigolds so much because they’re too pretty. In contrast to the neighborhood, which was dusty, brown, and ugly, the marigolds were colorful and lively. In Paragraph 22, the author describes Miss Lottie’s marigolds as sun-kissed and beautiful, while in Paragraph 27, she describes the kid’s obliviousness towards their own imprisonment using imagery.
2. Describe the internal conflict occurring for the narrator, Lizabeth. Find “textual evidence” to support your statement.
Throughout the story, the narrator, Lizabeth, goes through an internal conflict. After hearing her parents’ conversation she was left bewildered and confused, later realising that her childhood was coming to a close and that she was entering womanhood--she finally understood the truths that were hidden from her her entire childhood. In Paragraph 60 of the passage it states, “That violent, crazy act was the last act of childhood. For as I gazed at the immobile face with the sad, weary eyes, I gazed upon a kind of reality which is hidden to childhood.” This shows us that she was ashamed of herself and finally started to feel compassion, which was a sign that she was entering womanhood.
3. Lizabeth overhears her parents’ conversation. How does it make her feel? What is the consequence of her hearing this conversation?
After Lizabeth overheard her parents’ conversation she felt bewildered and enraged. According to the passage, her “mother, who was small and soft, was now the strength of the family; my father, who was the rock on which the family had been built, was sobbing like the tiniest child.” She goes on saying everything was out of tune—she had finally seen and realised the hidden truths her parents kept from her as a child. Overhearing her parents’ conversation sped up her journey of self-discovery as she ran away from her house a couple of hours later and trampled Miss Lottie’s marigolds out of rage and confusion. Only then had she understood Miss Lottie and entered womanhood.
4. What can you infer from the text as to Lizabeth’s reasons for her final act of destruction?
I can infer that after overhearing her parents’ conversation and finally understanding how out of tune her family was compared to what she knew, she ran away from her house in confusion and rage after which she ran to Miss Lottie’s yard and trampled her marigolds. This final act of destruction was when she understood Miss Lottie and why she spent so much time growing those marigolds—growing those marigolds were a mere distraction from how barren life was on the outside and a reminder of beauty and hope in a sea of despair.
5. Paragraphs 57 & 60 are especially rich in Juxtaposition.
Juxtaposition: (pronounced juhk-stuh-puh--zish--uh-n) is the placement of two or more things side by side, often in order to bring out their differences. Imagine a man walking a well-groomed dog on a pink leash on one hand and a rough Rottweiler on a spiked collar on the other hand. The juxtaposition could be shocking, humorous, or just plain strange. Regardless, this literary term calls attention to two distinctly different things by placing them right beside one another, or juxtaposing them.
Examine the diction and imagery and show your understanding of juxtaposition by identifying two images or words set up for comparison.
A perfect example of a juxtaposition are these two sentences in the passage: “I leaped furiously into the mounds of marigolds and pulled madly, trampling and pulling and destroying the perfect yellow blooms. The fresh smell of early morning and of dew-soaked marigolds.” I believe the narrator used a juxtaposition in this quote to portray her conflicting feelings as a result from understanding the hidden truths of her family.
6. Consider the last sentence of the story...
“And I too have planted marigolds.”
...and make inferences about whether the narrator is speaking literally, figuratively, or both.
I can infer that the narrator is speaking both literally and figuratively in the last line of the story. When Miss Lottie planted her marigolds, it was to create beauty amongst the sterility of the neighborhood. She spent so much time devoting what was left of her passion and joy to nurture those marigolds for that reason. When the narrator wrote this sentence, I think she meant that she literally planted marigolds to remind her of the positives and beauties of life that can be overlooked and forgotten about through time.
End of Class
When we returned back to class, we recollected ourselves and discussed the questions we were asked to complete during the breakout sessions. Some people had conflicting opinions and text evidence to share, but the class was usually able to agree on one general answer. Everyone was scrambling to earn points including myself. As a point master, it was difficult to keep track of all of the points being given out and participate at the same time, but I was able to successfully keep track with the help of the other point master Emily. After the discussion, we were assigned to complete an individual activity where we were supposed to describe the narrator’s voice and how she used literary elements to portray it. In my response, I wrote that the narrator used juxtapositions frequently throughout the passage which was relevant to the theme of the story. She contrasted herself a lot and it related to Miss Lottie’s lively marigolds compared to the sterility of her neighborhood. You could also connect this to her internal conflict that was a result of her transitioning into womanhood. Additionally, she used imagery to convey positive or negative connotations in correspondence with her growth as a person.
Helpful Links:
Connotations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRt1N0sJJQo
Juxtaposition https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KXVPS3FYkQ
Writer's Voice https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkuPPRlYRqk
Reflection
I learned a lot in today’s lesson. Essentially, I learned how authors use connotations through imagery, diction, and syntax to help the reader better analyze/understand the text and help them stay engaged throughout the course of the story. This became apparent to me while we were doing group work as I answered the questions and analysed what the narrator was writing and how she was conveying her thoughts and emotions. This skill is particularly valuable because it’s relevant to this course and can help me analyse future stories or passages as well as apply it to my writing based on what I learned today and throughout the course of this semester. All in all, this class taught me how to use connotations through literary elements in my future pieces as well as how to greatly improve my analysations of stories/passages that I’ll read in the future.
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