12-18-06 Class work and Xmas Homework

1. Warm-up: Think of flowers, trees, and animals in their natural habitat. What do you FEEL when you think of these? See these? Experience them in real life? How does nature AFFECT your LIFE? Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.

2. As you read the following poem, THINK about how nature’s beauty can provide ENCOURAGEMENT and JOY in times of trouble…this is the BIG IDEA behind the poem.

3. Read the poem:


"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud"


I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. 1

Continuous as the stars that shineAnd twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending lineAlong the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. 2

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,In such a jocund company:
I gazed---and gazed---but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought: 3

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils. 4

William Wordsworth

(See page 50 in GLENCOE book)

4. On the same paper that you did your warm-up, now paraphrase EACH stanza (1-4). A paraphrase is a restatement of the text, line for line, in one’s own words. A paraphrase is a great way to understand literature—especially poetry where the meaning is not always clear or direct. So, be CLEAR and DIRECT in your stanza-by-stanza paraphrase. AND, change each line of text into your own words—with contemporary language…some words will the stay the same because they are easily understood!

5. In the space provided here, reread the poem and identify how Wordsworth uses RHYME and RHYME SCHEME to evoke a particular feeling. Explain how he uses it with examples from the above poem
RHYME









RHYME SCHEME

6. MAKING THE BIG CONNECTION (THEME): a) Why do you think nature brings so much joy to the speaker? B) The theme of the poem is its overall message about life or human nature. What, in your opinion, is the theme of the poem?
A)






B)







7. Staple this sheet to your one sheet—with the warm-up and #4. Name on everything and do it all in INK.

8. STUDY FOR TEST ON DAY OF YOUR RETURN: How the World and Mankind Was Created; Cupid and Psyche; Perseus; Hercules; and The Adventures of Odysseus. I also want to include a matching section with the Olympians and just a few questions on the lesser gods of Olympus and Earth. And Some questions on this Wordsworth poem!