Persuasion Lesson 3: Introduction to Literary Analysis, Grammar, and Vocabulary Study

Lesson 3.3: Literary Analysis Use Student Activity page 3B, the Literature Web. This web will help you explore language and the meaning of a piece of literature. Use this web to help you analyze “The Road Not Taken,” by Robert Frost. The following slides will explain the different sections of the web by providing guiding questions.

Key Words Think about and review the poem. What are some of the words and phrases that you especially notice or think are really important? Why are they significant to you? Why do you think the poet chose those particular words?

Feelings What feelings do you get when you read the poem? What words contribute to those feelings? What feelings do you think the poet was trying to express? How do you think the speaker of the poem feels? How do you know?

Ideas What is the main idea or theme of the poem? What other ideas was the poet trying to share? What was the poet saying about choices? About change?

Images and Symbols What is the central symbol of the poem? What deeper meaning do roads have? What other images contribute to the poem and its meaning?

Structure What type of writing is the piece? What poetic structures and devices are used? Examine the punctuation of the poem. How does the organizing of the sentences contribute to the meaning of the poem? Find words and phrases that are repeated. How does the repetition contribute to the meaning of the poem?

Lesson 3.3: Literary Analysis Independently complete the Literature Web (3B) for “The Road Not Taken.” You will now be placed into groups of 3 or 4 students. Compare your webs. Create a large web on chart paper. This web should include the ideas of all members.

“The Road Not Taken” The Road Not Taken Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim Because it was grassy and wanted wear, Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I marked the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. Robert Frost

Lesson 3.3 (day 2): Literary Analysis Take out your copy of “Hyla Brook” and Student Activity page 3C. Independently complete the Literature Web for this poem, in the same way as you did the web for “The Road Not Taken.” Return to the same groups you were in yesterday. Compare your webs. Create a chart-paper-sized web that includes the ideas of all members. Be prepared to share your group’s work with the class.

“Hyla Brook” Hyla Brook By June our brook's run out of song and speed. Sought for much after that, it will be found Either to have gone groping underground (And taken with it all the Hyla breed That shouted in the mist a month ago, Like ghost of sleigh bells in a ghost of snow)— Or flourished and come up in jewelweed, Weak foliage that is blown upon and bent, Even against the way its waters went. Its bed is left a faded paper sheet Of dead leaves stuck together by the heat— A brook to none but who remember long. This as it will be seen is other far Than with brooks taken otherwhere in song. We love the things we love for what they are. Robert Frost

Lesson 3.3: Literary Analysis Take out your three section notebook or binder. At this point, you need to make sure that your three sections are labeled: Literature Journal Response Journal Vocabulary Journal Today you will be working in the Response Journal section of your notebook. This section is for brief writing assignments. Prompt: In the poem, Frost says that “way leans on to way,” suggesting that the choices we make lean us to different choices later on. Describe a time in your life when a choice you made led you to taking another, unexpected path.

3.4: Vocabulary Study Take out Student Activity page 3D. Understanding vocabulary is very important for an understanding of literature. Having a strong vocabulary will also help you write clearly and vividly. You can use a Vocabulary Web to help you explore the meaning of new words. The following slides explain the purpose of each section of the Vocabulary Web, found on page 3D.

Sentence The sentence in which the word is encountered.

Definition The dictionary meaning of the word.

Synonyms and Antonyms Words that mean the same (synonyms) or the opposite (antonyms) of the word

Analysis Part of Speech: the part of speech of the word Stems: the smaller words or word parts that make up the vocabulary word Origin: the language in which the word has its origins, typically available in the dictionary. Word Families: Other words that use one or more of the same stems

Example A sentence or analogy using the word, or a drawing or diagram that shows the meaning of the word.

Lesson 3.4: Vocabulary Study You will be placed into groups of 3-4 students. Each group should have both a dictionary and a thesaurus. Write the word diverge in the center of your Vocabulary Web. Locate the word in “A Road Not Taken.” Write the sentence in which the word appears in the Sentence cell of the web. Locate the dictionary definition and write it in the Definition cell. Use the thesaurus to find synonyms and antonyms and write them in the appropriate cell. Complete all parts of the Analysis cell. Use a dictionary, if needed, to find the stems of the word. (This includes prefixes, suffixes, and root words.) Your groups should develop its own sentences, analogies, or other types of examples for the Example cell.

Lesson 3.4: Vocabulary Study Now take out Student Activity sheet 3E. Complete a Vocabulary Web for a word that you have selected. The word should have some significance in the poem. This assignment will be completed independently for a grade.

Homework Read the selection from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer to get ready for Lesson 4. Due _______________. Continue reading your novel and working on related questions.