Bells

Repetition helps draw the reader's attention to a thought, idea, or feeling. It can make the main idea of the poem more memorable. Just as readers enjoy rhythm and rhyme in poems, repetition can also be pleasant.

How does Repetition affect a poem?

​

Today we will also be working with a specific SYMBOL!

Our Symbol is a Bell, or Bells

Poem #1: The Bells of Notre Dame

This poem is actually a song/story from the beginning of the Disney film The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The Disney film is loosely based on the novel of the same name, however events in the plot have been changed to be more accepted for a child audience. The actual novel is darker.

​

We will be watching the clip from Disney. You have the copy of the poem lyrics. Read along as it plays.

• Focus on the repetition of the word "Bells" and how they work as a symbol for this story and ponder this question: Why are the bells so important in story told by this poem?​

If you are absent, you will use the clip provided on the next slide.​

A few things to go over before we begin:

• Notre Dame is a Catholic Cathedral (large church) in Paris, France.

• ​The setting of this tale is in the 15th Century (January 1, 1401 to December 31, 1500)

• ​Society was made up of these classes:

  • ​Monarchy (Royalty)

  • Peerage (Church officials/Dukes, Archbishops, etc)

  • Aristocracy, Nobles & Knights

  • Peasants (all lower-class citizens)

  • Gypsies, Slaves, and other "outsiders"

​

Subject | Subject

Some text here about the topic of discussion

Multiple Choice

In Stanza 1, how do the Bells set the mood for the poem?

• The Bells explain the typical day of the city's people and similes are used to express their sound.

• The bells are compared to the thunder.

• The bells are compared to a psalm.

• The Bells are compared to being the soul of the city.

Multiple Choice

Look at Stanza 1, what does the speaker say the Bells represent?

• The heartbeat of the city.

• The heartbeat of Notre Dame.

• The Soul of France

• The soul of the city (Paris).

Multiple Choice

How does the repetition of "The Bells of Notre Dame" help the reader understand the plot of the story?

• Each stanza shows how the Bells of Notre Dame are involved with the plot. From the typical day, to the enforcement of the law, to the crimes on the streets.

• Each stanza repeats the Bells so you remember that it is the cornerstone of France.

• It helps the readers remember there are Bells in the cathedral of Notre Dame.

• It represents the iron fists of justice.

Multiple Choice

Look at the final stanza, what riddle will the Bells reveal?

• Who is the Bell ringer of Notre Dame?

• Who is the monster and who is the man?

• The bells will be singing.

• The bells will sing of the bell ringer.

Poem #2: The Bells by Edgar A. Poe

​We learned a lot about Edgar A. Poe back in our Fiction unit. Now he is back for poetry! Edgar Allan Poe was a famous American poet and short story writer. He wrote mostly in the American Romantic and Gothic styles, which are literary styles known for their physical and emotional passion, as well as supernatural and darker themes. Poe was born in Boston in 1809 and died in 1849 in Baltimore. He traveled around the upper East Coast and lived in the Bronx at one time. During his stay in the Bronx, St. John's College (now known as Fordham University) was built in 1845. It is speculated that the bells in Poe's poem, 'The Bells,' are at least partly inspired by the thunderous St. John's College bells.

Poem #2: The Bells by Edgar A. Poe continued

​Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Bells' is a poem that uses bells as a metaphor for the stages of life.

​

​The Bells is divided into four parts. Each part is subsequently longer than the preceding part. For example, the first stanza is only 14 lines. The next stanza is 21 lines. The third stanza is 34 lines, and the last stanza is 43 lines.

​

Multiple Choice

Part A: In Stanza 1, what are the Bells representing as far as a season in life?

• Young Adulthood/marriage

• Middle age/beginning of old age

• Old age/death

• Birth & Childhood

Multiple Choice

Part B: Which line best represents the evidence to your answer for Part A?

• How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, / In the icy air of night!

• What a world of merriment their melody foretells!

• While the stars that oversprinkle/ All the heavens, seem to twinkle/ With a crystalline delight;

• Keeping time, time, time,/ In a sort of Runic rhyme,

Multiple Choice

Part A: In Stanza 2, what are the Bells representing as far as a season in life?

• Birth & Childhood

• Young Adulthood/marriage

• Middle age/beginning of old age

• Old age/death

Multiple Select

Part B: Which line best represents the evidence to your answer for Part A?

• What a liquid ditty floats/ To the turtle-dove that listens, while she gloats/ On the moon!

• On the Future! how it tells/ Of the rapture that impels

• Hear the mellow wedding bells,/ Golden bells!What a world of happiness their harmony foretells!

• To the swinging and the ringing/ Of the bells, bells, bells,/ Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,

Multiple Choice

In parts III, the mood shifts and changes. What age do you think part III is?

• Birth & Childhood

• Middle age/beginning of old age

• Old age/death

• Young Adulthood/marriage

Multiple Choice

Looking at part IV, what do you think this stage is?

• Birth & Childhood

• Middle age/beginning of old age

• Old age/death

• Young Adulthood/marriage

Open Ended

Use your ACE writing strategy for this question. How are the Bells used similarly in both poems? Compare and contrast the two poems.