Aim: How do the characters Salva and Nya overcome conflict in A Long Walk to Water? HW: Online Scavenger Hunt! Our Course Policy sheet is on our webpage. Your job: Find it, print it out, sign it, and have a parent/guardian sign the sheet as well. Bring this in on Friday. Summer Reading Exam on Friday!
Aim: What do you believe the point of A Long Walk to Water is? DN: Think of a time in which you learned a lesson from a story. What was the message you learned? HW: Find the Course Rules sheet, print it, sign it, review it with a parent, and have them sign it. Bring this in on Friday. Summer Reading Exam this Friday! Study! Study! Study! Bring in money for the Adventureland trip by Friday. Have you found a planner or agenda book?
DN: What is your brightest childhood memory? How does Shonto Begay’s tone set the mood for his poem in the first stanza of “In My Mother’s Kitchen”? DN: What is your brightest childhood memory? HW: (Bring in Wed.): Google search the painting “The Guitarist” by Pablo Picasso. What feelings do you get from this picture? Who do you think the old man is? Why do you think this? (HINT: It is understood that he is blue. BUT what does “blue” imply?) (Bring in Thursday) Google search: “Black Mesa Navajo” write down any interesting facts about Black Mesa that you can find.
What is your brightest childhood memory? What is diction? Diction Brightest: How does this word help to define the type of childhood memory you are being asked about? Why do you think I chose this word? Let’s go back to the aim. What literary elements or devices are featured in the Aim? Setting Tone Mood How does the tone and mood work in tandem to help to create a setting?
Focus Questions for Stanza 1 How does Begay’s use of alliteration in lines 1 and 2 create a warm feeling for the reader? How does this establish a setting for his poem? How does the contrast in lines 3 and 4 aid to the mood of the poem and further add to the setting?
Aim: How can we analyze the elements of Pablo Picasso’s “Old Guitarist” to develop our own opinions of the piece? DN: Is the following true or false? “There is only one meaning behind a piece of writing or art.” HW: Google search: “Black Mesa Navajo” and answer the following: Where is Black Mesa? What is it? Who lives there? What interesting facts about Black Mesa did you find?
Aim: What is the purpose of Begay’s choice of language in the second stanza of “In My Mother’s Kitchen”? DN: What comes to mind when you hear the word “language”? HW: (Bring in on Tuesday): Create a list of three “things” that are opposites, but seem to go together. Describe why/how even though they are opposites, they work together. HINT: Create a chart to do this.
Denotation v. Connotation Denotation: the literal meaning of the word. This is basically the dictionary meaning. Connotation: the figurative meaning of the word. The way the word is used in everyday speech. This can be based on the feeling the word gives the reader. Let’s focus on the word “halo” to see the difference between literal and figurative.
What are the denotative and connotative meanings of: Word Denotative Connotative Hot Cold Warm Cool
Juxtaposition The purposeful use of contrasting ideas placed next to each other for a desired effect. Think of a more advanced, in-depth version of oxymoron. Imagine reading a happy scene in a book. The next scene is sad. Because the sad scene comes after the happy scene, the sad scene actually feels sadder than it really is and the happy scene feels happier.
In My Mother’s Kitchen Focus Questions What is the purpose of juxtaposing light and dark in lines 8 and 9? How is juxtaposition used again in line 10? What is the purpose of using this contrasting language? What do you believe the mother is thinking about when she “gazes out into the warming day. . .” (lines 11-12)? What does this image make you think about? Why does Begay end the stanza with a question that reads like a statement? What does this tell us about his state of mind?
Aim: How does Begay change the mood of the poem in stanza three? DN: When someone's tone of voice changes, what happens to the atmosphere of the room? HW: Find three things or objects that are opposites, but go together. Why/how do these go together? Put this into a chart. TEST on the poem on Thursday!
Focus Questions What changes do you observe between stanza 2 and stanza 3? How does Begay initiate this change? How can a person have “dreams and warmth tight in my throat”? If not literally, then what is Begay saying about his childhood dreams? How does this change the overall feel of the poem? What does the word “softly” in line 17 do to the feel of the poem?
Aim: How does Begay use juxtaposition and parallel structure to add to the characterization of his mother? DN: Look back at your notes and questions from stanza two. In your own words, what is juxtaposition? Write down this definition. HW: TEST on the poem on Thursday!
Focus Questions Read lines 21-22. What do we learn about the mother because of the structure of the sentence? What makes this sentence parallel? Read lines 23-24. What makes something “bittersweet”? How can you break down the word into two separate words to decipher its meaning? Taking lines 23-24 as a whole, what do you believe has caused Begay to “ache in my heart”?