Poetry & Poe

​Poetry & Poe

By Amy Shaw

Overview

What does silence look like?

Today, you'll read two poems about silence. Then, you'll write your own poem about something silent.

Lesson - Seeing Silence

What was the writer trying to make me see?

Making a clear picture of the specific things the writer is describing is the key step to understanding.

Shoulder Partner

Be very quiet...

1. Think of something very quiet.

2. Now, turn to your shoulder partner (A) and try to describe the sound of the VERY quiet object.

3. Now, have the secondary partner (B)describe what the quiet object is.

Shhhh...

Be very quiet...

1. Close your eyes.

2. Listen to the poem and make a mental image of what is being described.

3. When you have your mental image, write down two details from your "mental movie."

4. In the second poem, "The Silence," how does Lorca try to answer our question: What does silence look like?

D. H. Lawrence

"The White Horse"
The youth walks up to the white horse, to put its halter on
and the horse looks at him in silence.
They are so silent, they are in another world.

halter: straps or ropes that fit around the hear of a horse
Note - a halter is used for walking - not riding - a horse.

Federico Garcia Lorca

"The Silence"
Listen, my son, to the silence.
It's a sinuous silence,
A silence,
where valleys and echoes slip,
and foreheads bend
toward the ground.

sinuous: having curves; flexible

Open Ended

How does Lorca try to answer our question: What does silence look like?

-Best known for horror stories, but he was also a poet.

-Wrot​e some of the first detective stories.

​

​Edgar Allan Poe

Genre

Different genres of literature have different characteristics or features that we use to identify them.

​

In "The Tell-Tale Heart," the story is told from a first person perspective and we get to see the thoughts of the narrator.​

"The Tell-Tale Heart"

Edgar Allan Poe

Vocabulary
Pages 416-417

Match

Match the following vocabulary words.

• mad

• observe

• dreadful

• furious

• hideous

insane

watch

terrifying

frantic

horrible

• insane

• watch

• terrifying

• frantic

• horrible

Match

Match the following vocabulary words.

• bosom

• fury

• ceased

• hastily

• dreadfully

chest

rage

stopped

quickly

terribly

• chest

• rage

• stopped

• quickly

• terribly

Match

Match the following vocabulary words.

• hearty

• marrow

• dulled

• cautious

• precisely

cheerful

core

slowed

careful

exactly

• cheerful

• core

• slowed

• careful

• exactly

Match

Match the following vocabulary words.

• acute

• extent

• over-acuteness

• conceived

• scarcely

sharp

amount

extra sharpness

thought up

barely

• sharp

• amount

• extra sharpness

• thought up

• barely

Match

Match the following vocabulary words.

• vex

• object

• triumph

• corpse

• degrees

worry

goal

victory

dead body

stages

• worry

• goal

• victory

• dead body

• stages

Match

Match the following vocabulary words.

• proceeded

• caution

• latch

• cautiously

• boldly

moved forward

carefulness

lock

carefully

confidently

• moved forward

• carefulness

• lock

• carefully

• confidently

Match

Match the following vocabulary words.

• courageously

• deeds

• pitch

• hearkening

• presently

bravely

actions

tar

listening

at the moment

• bravely

• actions

• tar

• listening

• at the moment

Match

Match the following vocabulary words.

• in vain

• enveloped

• dull

• pulsation

• precautions

useless

surrounded

dim

beat

steps taken to prevent a bad outcome

• useless

• surrounded

• dim

• beat

• steps taken to prevent a bad outcome

Match

Match the following vocabulary words.

• concealment

• foul play

• lodged

• dissimulation

• foresight

hiding

wrongdoing

presented

deception

planning

• hiding

• wrongdoing

• presented

• deception

• planning

"The Tell-Tale Heart"

Edgar Allan Poe

Pages 410-415

Open Ended

Define silence in four words.

Multiple Choice

What is the main idea of the story?

• The story is about a dog, an eye and a curse.

• The story is about police officers who arrest a criminal.

• The story is about a man who commits a crime and is driven to confession.

• The story is about a man who has a heart problem.

Multiple Choice

What is the setting of the story?

• The old man's living room at his vacation house in the country.

• The old man's basement at midnight.

• The old man's attic at midnight.

• The old man's house, in his bedroom at midnight.

Multiple Choice

What does the title mean?

• The old man is telling a tale.

• The old man's beating heart doesn't stop even after he kills him.

• The narrator blames the old man's heart for giving him away.

• The old man's eye causes the narrator to tell a tale.

Multiple Choice

Why does the narrator confess his crime?

• The narrator confesses because he thinks the police are the real murderers.

• The narrator confesses because he knows the old man is not really dead.

• The narrator confesses because he thinks the police are mocking him and can hear the heartbeat.

• The narrator confesses because the officers knew the crime that had been committed.

Multiple Choice

How long did it take the narrator to accomplish his goal?

• 6 nights

• 7 nights

• 8 nights

• 9 nights

Multiple Choice

How does the narrator feel about the old man?

• He loves him

• He hates him

• He wants to spend more time with him

• He has forgotten him

Multiple Choice

What is the narrator most likely hearing when he thinks he hears the old man's heartbeat?

• The old man's heart

• The police arriving

• His own heartbeat

• His blood drops

Multiple Choice

How is the narrator feeling when the police FIRST enter his home?

• Terrified

• Confident

• Guilty

• Scared

Multiple Choice

Where did the narrator tell the police that the old man was?

• At his mother's house

• Taking a walk

• Asleep in his bed

• Out in the country

Multiple Choice

“It was the beating of the old man’s heart. It increased my fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage” is an example of...

• Metaphor

• Simile

• Hyperbole

• Personification

Open Ended

Paraphrase/Explain the following sentence: "TRUE!-nervous-very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?

Debating the Narrator's Sanity

​from Queen v. M'Naghten (1843)

"...the jurors out to be told in all cases that every man is presumed to be sane, and to possess a sufficient degree of reason to be responsible for his crimes, until the contrary be proved to their satisfaction; and that to establish a defense on the ground of insanity, it must be clearly proved that, at the time of the committing of the act, the party accused was laboring under such a defect of reason, from disease of the mind, as not to know the nature and quality of the act he was doing; or, if he did know it, that he did not know he was doing what was wrong."

The two conditions needed to judge a person legally sane, therefore, are:
1. The accused understood what he was doing.
AND
2. The accused knew that what he was doing was wrong.

Sane

According to the M'Naghten Rule, a person can be considered legally insane if he meets one of these two conditions:
1. The accused did not understand what he was doing-he did not understand reality.
OR
2. The accused did not understand that what he was doing was wrong.

Insane

The narrator has revealed that he killed an old man. However, the court must determine his state of mind. Is he legally sane or insane?

Open Ended

Review paragraphs 12 and 13 on page 413 of your text. Determine the narrator's sanity, find 3-5 pieces of evidence that you can cite to show that the narrator is insane or sane. Make your decision, and share your findings.