What is personification? Personification is a comparison that gives human qualities (such as emotion) and actions to non human objects or ideas. Example: “the whistling wind” (We are comparing the sound of the wind to a person whistling) Non-Example: “Scooby Dooby Doo!” yelled Scooby Doo. (While a dog can’t actually yell, we are NOT comparing anything here…we are actually assuming that a dog can talk.

April Rain Song Let the rain kiss you Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops Let the rain sing you a lullaby The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk The rain makes running pools in the gutter The rain plays a little sleep song on our roof at night And I love the rain. by Langston Hughes

Sea Lullaby by Elinor Wylie The old moon is tarnished With smoke of the flood, The dead leaves are varnished With colour like blood, A treacherous smiler With teeth white as milk, A savage beguiler In sheathings of silk, The sea creeps to pillage, She leaps on her prey; A child of the village Was murdered today. She came up to meet him In a smooth golden cloak, She choked him and beat him To death, for a joke. Her bright locks were tangled, She shouted for joy, With one hand she strangled A strong little boy. Now in silence she lingers Beside him all night To wash her long fingers In silvery light.

Sea Lullaby

evidence

pictures of the crime scene The old moon is tarnished With smoke of the flood, The dead leaves are varnished With colour like blood, A treacherous smiler With teeth white as milk, A savage beguiler In sheathings of silk, The sea creeps to pillage, She leaps on her prey; A child of the village Was murdered today She came up to meet him In a smooth golden cloak, She choked him and beat him To death, for a joke. Her bright locks were tangled, She shouted for joy, With one hand she strangled A strong little boy. Now in silence she lingers Beside him all night To wash her long fingers In silvery light

What crime has occurred?

Clues The old moon is tarnished With smoke of the flood, The dead leaves are varnished With colour like blood, A treacherous smiler With teeth white as milk, A savage beguiler In sheathings of silk, The sea creeps to pillage, She leaps on her prey; A child of the village Was murdered today She came up to meet him In a smooth golden cloak, She choked him and beat him To death, for a joke. Her bright locks were tangled, She shouted for joy, With one hand she strangled A strong little boy. Now in silence she lingers Beside him all night To wash her long fingers In silvery light

Who is our suspect? The old moon is tarnished With smoke of the flood, The dead leaves are varnished With colour like blood, A treacherous smiler With teeth white as milk, A savage beguiler In sheathings of silk, The sea creeps to pillage, She leaps on her prey; A child of the village Was murdered today She came up to meet him In a smooth golden cloak, She choked him and beat him To death, for a joke. Her bright locks were tangled, She shouted for joy, With one hand she strangled A strong little boy. Now in silence she lingers Beside him all night To wash her long fingers In silvery light

Who is our victim? The old moon is tarnished With smoke of the flood, The dead leaves are varnished With colour like blood, A treacherous smiler With teeth white as milk, A savage beguiler In sheathings of silk, The sea creeps to pillage, She leaps on her prey; A child of the village Was murdered today She came up to meet him In a smooth golden cloak, She choked him and beat him To death, for a joke. Her bright locks were tangled, She shouted for joy, With one hand she strangled A strong little boy. Now in silence she lingers Beside him all night To wash her long fingers In silvery light

Where did the crime occur? The old moon is tarnished With smoke of the flood, The dead leaves are varnished With colour like blood, A treacherous smiler With teeth white as milk, A savage beguiler In sheathings of silk, The sea creeps to pillage, She leaps on her prey; A child of the village Was murdered today She came up to meet him In a smooth golden cloak, She choked him and beat him To death, for a joke. Her bright locks were tangled, She shouted for joy, With one hand she strangled A strong little boy. Now in silence she lingers Beside him all night To wash her long fingers In silvery light

When did the crime occur? The old moon is tarnished With smoke of the flood, The dead leaves are varnished With colour like blood, A treacherous smiler With teeth white as milk, A savage beguiler In sheathings of silk, The sea creeps to pillage, She leaps on her prey; A child of the village Was murdered today She came up to meet him In a smooth golden cloak, She choked him and beat him To death, for a joke. Her bright locks were tangled, She shouted for joy, With one hand she strangled A strong little boy. Now in silence she lingers Beside him all night To wash her long fingers In silvery light

Sea Lullaby WRAP SHEET Who?___________________________________________________ What?__________________________________________________ Where?_________________________________________________ When?__________________________________________________ How?___________________________________________________

YOUR ASSIGNMENT SHOULD YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT Imagine that you are the boy that was murdered by the sea. If you were given the chance to testify at the murder trial what would you tell the jury about the attack and about the events leading up to the attack. Write a story describing the attack from the boys’ point of view. Use personification as well as imagery. Imagine that the sea is actually capable of “attacking” you in the way that the poem describes. What were you doing before the attack? How did you make the sea angry? Did you fight back or were your efforts no use? Did anyone see the attack?