1. “The Cremation of Sam McGee”
Ballads – Take Notes!

2. Learning Target
Analyze characteristics of different forms of poetry - Ballad.
Analyze how meaning is conveyed in poetry through word choice, poetic devices (rhyme, rhythm, repetition, refrain) and figurative language.

3. Need to know! Hyperbole
An exaggeration that is beyond realistic.

4. Finish these sentences in your notes…
It was so cold…
It rained so hard…
The snow was so deep…

5. Need to know!!! Alliteration
Repetition of consonant sounds in words close together in a line or lines in a poem. (Think about tongue twisters.)

6. Need to know! Imagery
Imagery are words that describe what the senses experience. The use of words that describe what we see, feel, smell, touch, and taste are all examples of imagery.
The cloud in the sky…
vs.
The fluffy, grey cloud in the clear, blue sky…

7. Need to know! Word meanings…
Denotation – Denotation refers to the actual intended meaning/definition of a word.
Connotation – Connotation refers to the suggested word meaning that surround the word. It is the feelings behind the word.
Example – Hate means a strong dislike for something, but there are negative feelings associated with the word. You may say you hate to eat watermelon, but there is also a suggestion that goes beyond just not wanting to eat it that includes negative feelings and sets a tone to the message.

8. Need to Know!!! MOOD
The overall feeling of a work of literature. (Also sometimes referred to as “atmosphere”)
Can often be described in one or two adjectives such as frightened, happy, sad, or nostalgic.
A writer produces mood by using imagery and using word choices that convey a certain feeling.
The setting can also contribute to the mood.
Example: “The hot sun beating down on the workers” vs. “The warm sun glowing at the workers” creates a different mood.

9. “The Cremation of Sam McGee”
Set in the Yukon (Canada) or land of the midnight sun.
Sam is cold and asks the ballad’s speaker, his partner “Cap” to cremate him when he dies.
Cap makes a promise to do so.

10. Cremation and Prospecting
A cremation is the burning of a body to ashes.
When someone dies and is cremated, they put the body in a large furnace that has high temperatures to make it so the body turns to ashes.
Prospecting is where men go in search of gold in the Yukon Territory where the temperatures fall to minus 68 degrees at night.

11. Page 636
Follow along as we read “The Cremation of Sam McGee” by Robert W. Service

12. Upload Graphic Organizer
Go to my webpage
Go to “Language Arts 8”
Click on Graphic Organizer and upload it to notability.
Complete the graphic organizer.
Share with me at
H# Lastname Firstname Sam Graphic