Three Poems: Make the test before you take the test Lesson 13 and Test Prep: Student Question Composition Using Question Stems “Ode on a Grecian Urn” by John Keats “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman

The best way to learn…is to teach. So, you are going to write a test. …by teaching them. Or rather, writing test questions of our own. Use slates to draft your answers. Each team will use the question stems I provide to write their own versions of the questions. These are from your ACTUAL TEST, and should lead up to this essay prompt: Compare how the authors use figurative language to reveal a point of view. You are writing questions and answers for the three poems we studied last week by Keat, Whitman, and Browning. The EXAMPLES for how to write answer choices are provided in BLUE. Your examples will come from the Johne Donne poems “Death Be Not Proud” and “No Man Is an Island.” This is LESSON 13, and each team member should copy questions/answers in his or her own notebook. Only the SCRIBE should write on loose leaf.

In notebooks AND on scribe’s looseleaf… Write the question! Write answer choices. Use the samples provided to help you phrase your answer choices. 3) Be ready to explain WHY the correct answer is correct.

QUESTION 1: Keats “Ode On a Grecian Urn” Part A How does Keats use figurative language to develop a theme in the poem? Example of how you should format your answer: -through personification of death that highlights the confidence believers should have in their faith (Donne “Death Be Not Proud”) Part B Which line from the poem best supports the answer to Part A? “mighty and dreadful, for thou art no so” (“Death Be Not Proud” line 2)

QUESTION 2: Browning’s “My Last Duchess” What do lines ____ and ___ most reveal about the speaker in the poem? NO 20-24, or 45-46! Sample: --Using Lines 1 & 2 from “No Man is an Island,” your answer would sound like… --He believes that all people are connected

QUESTION 3: Whitman’s “Song of Myself” Part A: How does the speaker’s reference to _____in line __ and _ _____ in line __ impact the meaning of the poem? Sample from “No Man is an Island” -Question: Europe in line 3 and mankind in line 7 -Sample answer: by linking the image of land masses to the speaker’s belief in mankind’s interconnectedness. Don’t forget the RED HERRING! Part B: Which evidence from the poem best supports the answer to Part A? -Sample answer: “any man’s death diminishes me” (line 6)

QUESTION 4: Keat’s “Ode on a Grecian Urn” Part A How are the speaker’s feelings most revealed in lines _____ through ______? Sample from “Death Be Not Proud”: -Lines 9 through 14 -through contrasting metaphors of ways humans may be forced to sleep Note: Answers need to use language of literature, identifying figures of speech. Part B (A-F) Select two details from lines ______-_______ that best support the answer to Part A. -“slave to fate” (line 9) and “death shall be no more” (line 14) would be incorrect, whereas “poison, war, and sickness” (line 10) and “poppy or charms” (line 11) would be correct because they express contrasting ways humans are put to sleep and emphasize death’s lack of power

QUESTION 5: Keat’s “Ode on a Grecian Urn” & Browning’s “My Last Duchess” Part A Which statement best reflects a point of view expressed in both poems? Sample (from both Donne poems): “All of mankind shares the inevitable experience of death” would be correct, whereas “death affects everyone equally,” while it sounds similar, would not be provable claim. EXPLANATION: The first poem expresses hope in death for the faithful, whereas the latter poem stresses the fact that all human beings are connected and affected by one individual’s death. The two poems express two completely different sides of death, but the factual universal truth of death is a point of view expressed by both.

QUESTION 5: Keat’s “Ode on a Grecian Urn” & Browning’s “My Last Duchess” Part B Select two details, one from each poem, that support the answer to Part A. Format this way: --“And soonest our best men with thee do go” (“Death Be Not Proud,” line 7) would be a good selection from the 1610 poem because it implies that everyone dies eventually, and --“every man / is a piece of the continent” (“No Man is an Island,” lines 1-2) would be a good selection from the later1624 poem because it too stresses that all human beings are part of the cycle of life and death.

PROSE CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE (Multi-paragraph Essay): Keats and Browning PROMPT: Write an essay analyzing how the points of view of the speakers in Keats’ “Ode on a Grecian Urn” and Browning’s “My Last Duchess” are revealed through the figurative language used in each poem. Use evidence from both poems to support your analysis. THE TASK: Write an explanation that illustrates how a student should develop a literary analysis essay that would answer this question. While this would be a multi-paragraph essay, the SEEC formula is still an excellent model for planning out a literary analysis.

Here is an example based on John Donne’s “Death Be Not Proud” and “No Man is an Island”: Par. 1 FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE: Student should begin the analysis by identifying the figurative language used in “Death Be Not Proud” lines 13-14 and how they contribute to the theme of the poem. For example, the poet uses both apostrophe (speaking directly to Death), personification (treating Death like a person), and direct metaphor (calling the physical act of dying a “short sleep”). The response should then identify the extended metaphor or conceit in “No Man is an Island,” which compares humanity to a continent that, when part breaks off or appears to stand alone—such as an island—the truth is that the whole continent is affected by what happens to any of its parts.

PROSE CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE Par. 2 THEME AND POINT OF VIEW “Death Be Not Proud” lines 13-14 contain figures of speech that contribute to the theme of why death should not be feared because it acknowledges the hope of eternal life. The metaphor of death as sleep suggests to readers that dying is peaceful and does not involve suffering. By contrast, “No Man is an Island” does not address the peaceful nature of death but rather emphasizes how all of humanity is affected when one single person dies, such as when “a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe / Is the less” (lines 3-4). Students should be certain to keep each poem distinct, identifying which poem is being quoted and making sure present evidence from each poem in the same order for each body paragraph.

PROSE CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE Par. 3-4 EXPLANATION AND EVIDENCE: In “Death Be Not Proud,” the phrase “one short sleep past” refers to death or the act of dying, which the narrator characterizes as temporary while personifying death as an ineffectual executioner. From this short sleep we will then “wake eternally,” or move from death to some new form of existence, such as the eternal afterlife. In this way, Death doesn’t kill anyone, not permanently. On the other hand, all of humanity is permanently affected by the death of any individual, whether that death is “of thy friends or of thine / own” (“No Man is an Island” lines 5-6). While both poems focus on the universal reality of death, the earlier 1610 poem focuses on Donne’s more youthful point of view, his near-boastful self-assurance concerning eternal life; however, the latter 1624 poem focuses on the older poet’s more reflective, more sobering meditation on how all humanity is connected. The poet no longer challenges Death to its face; rather, he uses a more realistic metaphor—that every person is connected, like a land mass—and implies that humankind should be thinking less about the afterlife and doing more to ease the suffering of life itself.

PROSE CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE NOTE: Students should be careful to use clear transitions when comparing complex ideas, and make sure to point out significant, important differences and similarities that answer the questions regarding the differing points of view in each poem. Students must avoid using “I” or “you,” use the present tense when referring to events that happen in the poems, and use accurate literary terms. A strong essay will attempt to use strong rhetoric and parallel structure (“less about the afterlife…and more to ease…life itself”). Par.5 : Finally, students should then acknowledge and explain the paradox within line 14 of “Death Be Not Proud”: “And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.” How can death be defeated, or die? The speaker of the poem is essentially saying that death is not permanent, but a temporary transition. Once people move on to the afterlife, they are defeating death. By comparison, “No Man is an island” also uses a paradox—that all people are at the same time separate individuals and one identity—to express a less religious point of view and a more humanistic view that life is precious, and should the focus of our good works.

PROSE CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE Here is an example from John Donne’s “Death Be Not Proud” and “No Man is an Island”: FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE: Student should begin the analysis by identifying the figurative language used in “Death Be Not Proud” lines 13-14 and how they contribute to the theme of the poem. For example, the poet uses both apostrophe (speaking directly to Death), personification (treating Death like a person), and direct metaphor (calling the physical act of dying a “short sleep”). The response should then identify the extended metaphor or conceit in “No Man is an Island,” which compares humanity to a continent that, when part breaks off or appears to stand alone—such as an island—the truth is that the whole continent is affected by what happens to any of its parts. THEME AND POINT OF VIEW “Death Be Not Proud” lines 13-14 contain figures of speech that contribute to the theme of why death should not be feared because it acknowledges the hope of eternal life. The metaphor of death as sleep suggests to readers that dying is peaceful and does not involve suffering. By contrast, “No Man is an Island” does not address the peaceful nature of death but rather emphasizes how all of humanity is affected when one single person dies, such as when “a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe / Is the less” (lines 3-4). Students should be certain to keep each poem distinct, identifying which poem is being quoted and making sure present evidence from each poem in the same order for each body paragraph. EXPLANATION AND EVIDENCE: In “Death Be Not Proud,” the phrase “one short sleep past” refers to death or the act of dying, which the narrator characterizes as temporary while personifying death as an ineffectual executioner. From this short sleep we will then “wake eternally,” or move from death to some new form of existence, such as the eternal afterlife. In this way, Death doesn’t kill anyone, not permanently. On the other hand, all of humanity is permanently affected by the death of any individual, whether that death is “of thy friends or of thine / own” (“No Man is an Island” lines 5-6). While both poems focus on the universal reality of death, the earlier 1610 poem focuses on Donne’s more youthful point of view, his near-boastful self-assurance concerning eternal life; however, the latter 1624 poem focuses on the older poet’s more reflective, more sobering meditation on how all humanity is connected. The poet no longer challenges Death to its face; rather, he uses a more realistic metaphor—that every person is connected, like a land mass—and implies that humankind should be thinking less about the afterlife and doing more to ease the suffering of life itself. Students should be careful to use clear transitions when comparing complex ideas, and make sure to point out significant, important differences and similarities that answer the questions regarding the differing points of view in each poem. Students must avoid using “I” or “you,” use the present tense when referring to events that happen in the poems, and use accurate literary terms. A strong essay will attempt to use strong rhetoric and parallel structure (“less about the afterlife…and more to ease…life itself”). CLOSING: Finally, students should then acknowledge and explain the paradox within line 14 of “Death Be Not Proud”: “And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.” How can death be defeated, or die? The speaker of the poem is essentially saying that death is not permanent, but a temporary transition. Once people move on to the afterlife, they are defeating death. By comparison, “No Man is an island” also uses a paradox—that all people are at the same time separate individuals and one identity—to express a less religious point of view and a more humanistic view that life is precious, and should the focus of our good works.

QUESTION 2: Connotative/Figurative Language

QUESTION 3: Structure/Author’s Strategy

QUESTION 4: Author’s Point of View