Aim: How do we analyze poems to focus on the controlling idea? Do Now: Take out yesterday’s poems. 1. What idea does the poem, “Those Winter Sundays,” present about fathers? 2. From what point of view is the poem written? 3. How would the feelings of the poem change if “winter” were changed to another season?
Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden Sundays too my father got up early and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold, then with cracked hands that ached from labor in the weekday weather made banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him. I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking. When the rooms were warm, he’d call, and slowly I would rise and dress, fearing the chronic angers of that house, Speaking indifferently to him, who had driven out the cold and polished my good shoes as well. What did I know, what did I know of love’s austere and lonely offices?
My Papa’s Waltz by Theodore Roethke The whiskey on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy; But I hung on like death: Such waltzing was not easy. We romped until the pans Slid from the kitchen shelf; My mother's countenance Could not unfrown itself. The hand that held my wrist Was battered on one knuckle; At every step you missed My right ear scraped a buckle. You beat time on my head With a palm caked hard by dirt, Then waltzed me off to bed Still clinging to your shirt.
Turn each correct multiple choice answer into a complete sentence. 1. Which pairs of words describe the sounds of the fire? a. banked/blaze b. splintering/breaking c. blueblack/cold d. austere/lonely 2. The phrase “lonely offices,” as it is used in ine 14, means a. Unloved parent. b. empty hearts. c. silent rooms. d. unappreciated duties. 3. When you consider the poem as a whole, the theme that emerges is a. understanding. b. fear. c. resentment. d. pity. 4. In line 7, the word "countenance" most likely means a. expression b. Arms c. Laughter d. posture 5. Among the following lines from the poem, choose the one that contains a SIMILE. a. "We romped until the pans” b. "The hand that held my wrist” c. "But I hung on like death” d. "With a palm caked hard by dirt” 6. From the speaker's words, we can tell that the father is most likely a. a teacher b. Unemployed c. a farmer d. a doctor Turn each correct multiple choice answer into a complete sentence.
Topic: Fathers What are some possible controlling ideas? What idea do the two poems convey about fathers? Can you use any of the adjectives we put on the board yesterday about fathers?