Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
“ The New Colossus”by
Emma Lazarus
“ The New Colossus”by
Emma Lazarus
Title: “The New Colossus”_________ Name: _________________Page _1 of ______ Class: _________________
Date: __________________
Summary:
NotesQuestions and focus points
Emma Lazarus wrote "The New Colossus" in 1883 for an art auction "In Aid of the Bartholdi Pedestal Fund." While France had provided the statue itself, American fundraising efforts like these paid for the Statue of Liberty's pedestal. In 1903, sixteen years after her death, Lazarus' sonnet was engraved on a plaque and placed in the pedestal as a memorial.The famous sonnet echoes many of the conflicting identities and ideals Lazarus dealt with in her own life. As an American author, she felt that ancient lands could keep their old traditions and "storied pomp.”
Source: Jewish Women's Archive. <http://jwa.org/historymakers/lazaru
Who was Emma Lazarus?
Title: “The New Colossus”_________ Name: _________________Page _1 of ______ Class: _________________
Date: __________________
NotesQuestions and focus points Words to Know . . .
etymology: OE braesen. brassbold; shameless
brazen
exile etymology: L. exilium to expellexpulsion from native land
etymology: OE. beacen. sign, signal
etymology: Gk. pompe. a sending
beacon
pomp
teeming
tempest
etymology: OE. teman. Abounding, swarming
etymology: L. tempestas. weather, season, storm.
Listen to the poem“The New Colossus”
QuickTime™ and ampeg4 decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
The New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,With conquering limbs astride from land to land;Here at our sea-washed sunset gates shall standA mighty woman with a torch, whose flameIs the imprisoned lightening, and her nameMother of Exiles. From her beacon-handGlows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes commandThe air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries sheWith silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
Title: _”The New Colossus” __ Name: _________________Page _1 of ______ Class: _________________
Date: __________________
Summary:
NotesQuestions and focus points Let’s analyze the poem using SOAPSTone
S - What is the subject of the piece?O - What is the occasion?A - Who is the audience?P - What is the purpose?S - Who is the speaker?TONE - What is the tone of the piece?
S What is the subject of
the piece? What are the general topics/and/or/ideas contained in the text?
O What is the occasion? What are the time, place, and setting of the piece?
A Who is the audience? To whom is the piece directed?
P What is the purpose?
What is the purpose or reason this piece was written?
S Who is the speaker?
Who is the voice that tells the story?
T
What is the tone of
the piece? What is the attitude or emotional characteristics present in the piece?
Title: _”The New Colossus” __ Name: _________________Page _1 of ______ Class: _________________
Date: __________________
Summary:
NotesQuestions and focus points
“The New Colossus” is a fourteen line poem that is written in iambic pentameter. It’s form is known as a _____________.
What is the form of the poem?
Lazarus invoked her ancient Greek ideals by transforming the "brazen giant " into a "Mother of Exiles" who retains Greek majesty, beauty and defiance as a new Colossus.
This is an _______________ to the Colossus of Rhodes.
Title: _”The New Colossus” __ Name: _________________Page _1 of ______ Class: _________________
Date: __________________
Summary:
NotesQuestions and focus points
Who was Colossus ofRhodes?
The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue erected by Chares of Lindos between 292 and 280 BCE. It was located on the Greek isle of Rhodes and was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It stood over 107 feet high before it was destroyed.
Title: _”The New Colossus” __ Name: _________________Page _1 of ______ Class: _________________
Date: __________________
Summary:
NotesQuestions and focus points
The tone of the lines "huddled masses yearning to breathe free" that welcomes the tired immigrants is ______________
While this “Mother of Exiles’” eyes command, and she stands alone beacon to all the world, she is still an ambiguous figure of power, speaking only with ”__________________.”
In the subtext of the poem, we are able to see the following binaries:
ancient vs. ________ Jew and __________
______ and silence freedom and __________
Title: _”The New Colossus” __ Name: _________________Page _1 of ______ Class: _________________
Date: __________________
Summary:
NotesQuestions and focus points
What comparison does Lazarus make between the American statue and the famous Colossus of the ancient world?
How is this new statue different?
Title: _”The New Colossus” __ Name: _________________Page _1 of ______ Class: _________________
Date: __________________
Summary:
NotesQuestions and focus points
What did people in 1883 think of the statue and how was Emma Lazarus asking them to change?
Why should her poem persuade a person to donate money to bring the statue to America?
TASK: Write a persuasive letter to the American public
The year is 1885, and Joseph Pulitzer has not yet begun his successful campaign to fund the pedestal for Bartholdi's statue. Hoping to garner support for the pedestal fund, you write a letter for a newsletter on the arts that will be read by many of New York's wealthiest patrons. Your friend, Emma Lazarus, has shared with you a sonnet she wrote on the subject, and has given you permission to paraphrase or quote freely from her poem. Thus far, however, wealthy New Yorkers have been reluctant to donate to the pedestal fund. Privately, many of these people have shared with you (for you are yourself one of these wealthy patrons) some of their concerns:- "I don't understand the symbolism of this statue. It seems to me a mishmash of conflicting symbols. What holds it all together? Why is there a crown? A torch?" - "Why on earth is the statue to be facing out over the ocean? Shouldn't it face towards land, where the people of New York can enjoy it?"- "What will this do for the city of New York? Wouldn't my money be better invested in another museum, or a university?"
