S5

Title  Sometimes the title of a poem can give us a great insight into the subject of the poem. Before we read any further, I want you to look at the title and create a mind map to reflect what words/images/ideas/emotions these words evoke for you.  Now share your ideas with a partner. Be prepared to share your ideas with the rest of the class.

Vocabulary Re-read the poem and write down any words that you are unsure of. Take a few minutes to look up any unfamiliar words in a dictionary and write the definitions in your jotter. I will quiz you...

Establishing the basics Read the poem carefully and construct some notes for yourself under the headings  WHO  WHAT  WHERE  WHEN  WHY to help you identify the situation or story of the poem.

Understanding  Once you have done this, you will be asked to use your notes to write a diary entry from the perspective of the speaker, where you tell the story of what happened to you that day. You should include as much detail as you can, including information on how you felt at the time.

Diary Entry  Aim for 1 -2 sides of A4  Write in the past tense  Use as much description as possible  Try to show the emotions of the speaker at different points in the poem

Storyboard Use your notes to help you to draw a storyboard of events. You should include as much detail as possible in your pictures and label each box with an appropriate caption from the poem.

Questions Verse One 1. What time of day is the poem being written? b)What words reveal this? 2. Where is the poem set? 3. Write down a phrase that describes the Empire state building. b)How does this reveal the poet’s attitude? 4. To what does the poet compare the helicopter in lines 2-3? b) In what two ways are they alike? c) How does this reveal his attitude? 5. What is the poet describing in the last lines of the verse?

Questions Verse Two 1. Where is the poet in verse two? b) How do we know this? 2. Name two sources of the sounds that the poet hears outside. 3. How many words remind you of the wild west? b)Why has the poet done this? 4. What are ‘coldwater flats’? 5. Explain the contrast between verses one and two.

Questions Verse Three 1. What is a frontier? 2. What is a stockade? 3. Why does the poet use these words? 4. What does he mean by keeping ‘the midnight out?’ 5. Do you think this is a positive or negative conclusion to the poem? Why? 6. What do you think is the overall message of the poem?

Summary  ‘Hotel Room 12 th Floor’ is a poem in three verses which reflects upon the nature of urban violence in NY. The poem conveys MacCaig perceptions of NY by day and night. He looks out with contempt initially from his hotel room window and describes the ugliness of a skyscraper city and as night falls he lies in bed listening to the sounds of the city at night and reflects on the corruption and violence of society. The poem ends by suggesting that darkness and violence are always near and impossible to escape from.

Poetic Techniques Now that we understand WHAT is happening in the poem and WHAT MacCaig’s message is, we now must think about HOW he chooses to express this message. MacCaig uses many techniques to express his opinions. An understanding of these techniques and their effects are CRUCIAL to success in the higher course.  On the following slide you will see a number of poetic techniques and their definitions.  Can you match them up?

Hotel Room 12 th Foor Onomatopoeia Metaphor ImageryRepetitionConnotationSimile AllusiondenotationHyperbole PersonificationPoint-of-viewAlliteration Synecdoche Euphemism The repetition of initial consonant sounds. A comparison between two objects with the intent of giving clearer meaning to one of them. The use of words which imitate sound. Words or phrases that appeal to any sense or any combination of senses to create a mental picture. The repeating of words, phrases, lines, or stanzas. The meaning suggested by a particular word The dictionary definition or literal meaning of a word A comparison between two objects using a specific word or comparison such as "like", "as", or "than". A reference to another time, work, person, etc. An exaggeration of any sort, added for effect. An understatement, used to lessen the effect of a statement. A description of a non- human or its actions that seem to give it human characteristics. the vantage point of the speaker, or "teller", of the story or poem. In which a part is used to represent a whole

Hotel Room 12 th Foor 5Onomatopoeia 12Metaph or 6Imagery7Repetition9Connotatio n 8Simile 11Allusion10denotation13Hyperbol e 2Personification3Point-of-view4Alliteration 1Synecdoche 14Euphemis m 4The repetition of initial consonant sounds. 12A comparison between two objects with the intent of giving clearer meaning to one of them. 5The use of words which imitate sound. 6Words or phrases that appeal to any sense or any combination of senses to create a mental picture. 7The repeating of Words or phrases, 9The meaning suggested by a particular word 10The dictionary definition or literal meaning of a word 8A comparison between two objects using "like", "as", or "than". 11A reference to another time, work, person, etc. 13An exaggeration of any sort, added for effect. 14An understatement, used to lessen the effect of a statement. 2A description of a non- human or its actions that seem to give it human characteristics. 3the vantage point of the speaker, or "teller", of the story or poem. 1In which a part is used to represent a whole

Verse One The first verse is concerned with the poet’s view from his window in New York city. He recalls the morning when he was looking out on the huge city from a hotel room on the 12 th floor of a skyscraper. In the morning light, the poet surveyed the landscape with the marvels of New York City laid out before him. The first verse is full of visual description as he watches the helicopter fly round the Empire State building and eventually land on the roof of the PanAm building. Soon, night falls and the tower blocks light up with countless electric lights to (literally) combat the darkness and it is from this moment that the poet speaks to us. He is obviously unimpressed by what he sees and this verse reveals his contempt for human greed and desire to hide behind wealth and material possessions..

Analysis How is his contempt revealed to the reader?

QuotationTechniqueHow does this quotation reveal MacCaig’s attitude? Hotel room 12 th Floor

Verse Two The second verse is more concerned with aural images. MacCaig is now lying in bed in the hotel room, surrounded by technological advancements (radio and TV) while chaos is breaking out on the streets below. He listens to the anarchy unfold and the sounds he hears are terrifying; the sirens of emergency vehicles and the harsh screaming cannot be drowned out by the TV. He compares the violence on the streets to the violence of the Wild West.

Analysis How does MacCaig convey fear and violence?

QuotationTechniqueHow does this quotation reveal MacCaig’s attitude? Hotel room 12 th Floor

Verse Three  Frontier – line between settlers and unsettled ‘savage’ land in 18 th C America  Stockades – forts/fences built to keep the Native Americans out Verse 3 is a strong conclusion to the poem where he steps back and offers an opinion on what he has seen and heard. The sentences are a lot shorter in this verse and the sentence structure is more simplistic here than in the rest of the poem. This verse is more philosophical and reflective than the other verses and represents the result of MacCaig’s thoughts and observations, that humanity cannot escape from the darkness within itself.

Analysis How does MacCaig create a pessimistic mood?

QuotationTechniqueHow does this quotation reveal MacCaig’s attitude? frontierWord choice StockadesWord choice Midnightpersonification Hotel room 12 th Floor

The message of the poem  The last verse is a strong conclusion to the poem as MacCaig comments on what he has seen and heard. The ending is quite pessimistic and he employs ‘wild west imagery’ to convey his ideas. He is basically saying that the ‘frontier’, (the imaginary line between the savagery of the native Americans and the civilisation of the pioneers) is not ‘somewhere else’ but in fact still exists in all of us. The boundary between good and evil is a perpetual concern for him.  Midnight is personified and is seen as a malevolent, lurking presence. The darkness represents the evil and violence in men’s souls that is forever present just below the surface. He uses strong, decisive words ‘no’, ‘never’ etc to develop the sense of despair and misery that his experiences have evoked.  His final thoughts are that humankind cannot protect themselves from evil by building monuments to consumerism – or stockades (PanAm, Empire state etc VERSE 1) but instead they must look inward and solve humanity’s problems by addressing poverty and crime – midnight/darkness (broken bones, harsh screaming VERSE 2). It is only in this that humanity will have any hope for the future.

Hotel Room 12 th Floor This morning I watched from here a helicopter skirting like a damaged insect the Empire State building, that jumbo size dentist’s drill, and landing on the roof of the PanAm skyscraper.

But now Midnight has come in from foreign places. Its uncivilised darkness is shot at by a million lit windows, all ups and acrosses.

But midnight is not so easily defeated. I lie in bed, between a radio and a television set, and hear the wildest of warwhoops continually ululating through

the glittering canyons and gulches – police cars and ambulances racing to broken bones, the harsh screaming from coldwater flats, the blood glazed on the sidewalks.

The frontier is never somewhere else. And no stockades can keep the midnight out.

CEL Why write a CEL?  To show that we have understood the poem  As evidence of our next steps and strengths  To practice for the final exam

CEL “Choose a poem which describes a scene or incident vividly. Briefly state what is being described and then go on to show how the poetic techniques used make the descriptions vivid”

What should i include? An essay will fail if:  Technical accuracy is poor  Candidate doesn’t understand text  Candidate doesn’t answer question  Essay is too short  Quotations are too few/not explained The next few slides will help you t o avoid these common mistakes.

Introductions Introduction – the first part of any essay is the introduction. A useful structure to use when writing an introduction is TAST.  T – text  A – author  S – summary  T – task

Sample The poem ‘Hotel Room 12 th Floor’ by Norman MacCaig is a thought provoking poem that reflects upon the nature of urban violence in New York City as he describes what he sees and hears from his hotel room window. The poem conveys MacCaig’s perceptions of New York by day and night making use of skilful techniques to paint a convincing and vivid picture of the harsh reality of the city.

Planning You must plan your essay to make sure that you answer the question properly. You will be expected to write at least 10 paragraphs in total. An introduction, a main body and a conclusion. Choose 8 things to discuss in order to answer the question. These will become the focus of your eight paragraphs.

Structure A CEL is an argument so each point must relate to your overall argument e.g how MacCaig’s descriptions are made vivid. A good way to structure your paragraphs is using PQCE.  P – point  Q – quotation  C-comment  E-evaluation

Point Your point is your topic sentence where you say what you will talk about in that paragraph and show how it relates to the overall question. To introduce a point…  Firstly, secondly, also, in addition to this, moreover, furthermore, as well as this,  the poet  introduces, develops, explores, illustrates, highlights, conveys, portrays, comments on,  To help the reader visualise grasp/understand/appreciate the scene being described

Linking In order to make your paragraphs flow well and to create a clear line of thought in your essay, it is important that you use linking words and phrases to connect your ideas.

Using Quotations  All quotations must be placed quotation marks.  They must be copied out exactly as they are in the text.  Your quotation must link to your point

Comment  After you have written your quotation you must explain how the quotation supports your topic sentence.  Does the author use any literary techniques? To introduce a comment…  This simile, metaphor, use of word choice/alliteration/symbolism  suggests, implies, evokes, illustrates, highlights, conveys, denotes, indicates, expresses, is symbolic of, contrasts with,

Evaluative Language  When we are writing a Critical Evaluation of Literature it is very important that we evaluate the text.  This means that we have to make it clear that we have our own opinion of the text.  However, it is not very sophisticated to say I liked this because … this is very good because … all of the time.

Evaluation You should choose a word or phrase form the quotation to evaluate (discuss how effective it is) in helping to answer the question. To introduce evaluation…  This is a very striking, shocking, interesting, important, significant, suggestive, expressive, crucial, vital,  image, simile, metaphor, use of word choice/alliteration/symbolism/characterisation/setti ng etc etc  as (key word/phrase…)  suggests, has connotations of, alludes to, symbolises,

Sample Firstly, MacCaig provides a vivid description of NY city by day as he looks out at the cityscape from his window. He sees a helicopter flying over the Empire State Building; a ‘jumbo sized dentist’s drill’. The metaphor seems to suggest the shape of the building and its menacing appearance. The use of the word ‘jumbo’ is interesting as the poet’s contempt for the American desire to have the biggest of everything is revealed here. The ESB is regarded as a monument to the American way of life and that is what is being attacked here.

Conclusion Conclusion – a useful structure to use when writing a conclusion is TAST.  T – text  A – author  S – sum up  T – task

Self Assessment Now we have finished the unit, it is important to consider: What you have enjoyed about Hotel Room 12 th Floor What you have learned. The skills you’ve gained that you can use in the future.

Self Assessment Write down at least three skills you have gained that you would be able to use again (in English, in another subject or at home). What could YOU improve on and how would you do this?

S5

CEL “Choose a poem where the poet expresses criticism about a particular aspect of society. State briefly what this is and go on to show how the poet effectively communicates his ideas to you”