UNIT 2: THE LITERATURE OF THE AMERICAS II -

READINGSENG10A

Class Website

Objective

◦ Discuss readings by Walcott, Salvon, and Ferre.

◦ Identify and define literary elements of theme, paradox, tone, characterization, types of language, and magic

realism.

◦ Review the requirements for the modified portfolio.

Unit Assignments

◦ Discussion DROPPED – Lesson 7

◦ Portfolio – MODIFIED

◦ Writing a Personal Narrative

◦ Posted on the Class Website

◦ Outline due Lesson 5 – CMW link not needed for outline

◦ Final Draft with CMW link due Lesson 13

◦ Unit Test Study Guide

◦ Posted on the Class Website

◦ Write out short response questions before taking the unit test and submit to CMW.

◦ Paste CMW link in answer box.

◦ REMINDER: Turning work into CMW does NOT mean your work has been submitted to me. Hence why I request

for you to copy and paste the CMW link.

Themes of Love

◦ Love of Self

◦ Love of Family

◦ Love of Country

◦ Love of a Significant Other

◦ As you read the poems within the unit:

◦ Look over the poems and decide what kind of theme of love is being addressed in each.

◦ Describe the sensory details the poet uses to evoke this powerful emotion.

◦ Which poem affects you most? Explain why you think that is.

“Love After Love” by Derek Walcott

◦ The speaker says you ignored yourself for “another.” Do you think this was an actual, separate person (i.e., an ex-lover), or could it be just a different version of “yourself ”? How can you tell?

◦ Do you think there are really multiple versions of “you”? Do you think the speaker believes that? What parts of the poem support your answer?

◦ What is a paradox?

◦ A paradox is a statement that seems to contradict itself.

◦ Sometimes people set aside who they really are. They might do this because they don’t believe that what they want or think is possible; maybe others don’t approve of their dreams.

◦ Walcott builds “Love after Love” around the paradox of “the stranger who was yourself.”

◦ being aware of oneself yet trying to be another person, both at the same time

◦ accepting and loving your own identity = Self-knowledge

◦ Walcott’s use of paradox helps to support the theme of rediscovering one’s true identity.

“Love After Love” by Derek Walcott

"you will greet yourself arriving

at your own door, in your own mirror,

and each will smile at the other's welcome“

In these lines, the mirror most likely symbolizes

a. a show of vanity.

b. a sense of comfort.

c. the recognition of one's talents.

d. the reflection of one's inner beauty.

◦ b. a sense of comfort.

“Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart

to itself, to the stranger who has loved you”

Which of the following words best describes the

speaker's tone?

a. authoritative

b. calming

c. encouraging

d. pleading

◦ c. encouraging

Hint: Tone is the author’s attitude toward the subject matter or toward the reader or audience.

Ask yourself, “How does the author feel about what he or she is writing about?”

“When Greek Meets Greek” by Samuel Selvon

◦ Under what circumstances might a person have to pretend to be someone other than who he or she actually is?

◦ “I am a citizen of the world” is a key line in the story “When Greek Meets Greek.” What does this line mean to you?

◦ What is characterization?

◦ Describing a character’s speech or appearance or by revealing thoughts and actions

◦ The conversations among characters, also called dialogue, help the reader understand the author’s characters as well.

◦ In this story, an immigrant from Jamaica is having trouble finding an English landlord who will rent to people of color until he learns of a man who accepts Indian tenants. Worried that his fellow lodger Chan will expose his pretense of being an Untouchable from India, Ram tries to get Chan evicted. After Chan reveals that Ram is really from the West Indies, Ram is the one who must leave. Later he discovers that Chan, too, is from Jamaica.

◦ What is discrimination?

◦ It can be seen through the rejection towards other nationalities and different physical appearances

◦ It leads to other themes such as adaptation of personality, local customs and behavior in order to survive.

Types of Language in Literature

◦ Colloquialism

◦ the usage of informal or everyday language in literature

◦ going to – gonna

◦ want to – wanna

◦ Slang

◦ used in specific social groups, like teenagers

◦ LOL – laughing out loud

◦ Jargon

◦ used only by certain groups, but it often refers to words used in a particular profession

◦ For example, the way in which lawyers speak is so specific to their profession that it is often known as “legalese.”

◦ Dialect is the way the writer has his or her characters speak.

◦ The use of dialect can reveal a character’s social class, where he or she is from, even his or her age.

◦ Dialect is created through the arrangement, pronunciation, or choice of words.

◦ In the story “When Greek Meets Greek,” Selvon tells his story in Caribbean dialect

“The Youngest Doll” by Rosario Ferré

◦ In this magic realist story, a woman from an aristocratic Puerto Rican family never marries because a

prawn has embedded itself in her leg. She learns that her doctor could have cured her but instead has

treated the sore on her leg for more than 20 years so he could pay for his son’s medical education.

Then a younger doctor, a social climber, marries her youngest niece and treats her like the wonderful

doll the aunt makes for her wedding. One night, the doctor becomes concerned when he cannot hear

his wife breathing. When she opens her eyes, angry river prawns swarm from the empty sockets.

◦ What is magical realism?

◦ Magic Realism combines elements of realism and fantasy.

◦ Ferré has combined a realistic story about an aunt and her youngest niece with surreal details and events.

◦ Used to express the point that people (girls in this case) feel anger and resentment when they are not

recognized and accepted for who they really are.

◦ Think about - Are “girls” and “dolls” interchangeable in this story?

“The Youngest Doll” by Rosario Ferré

"The aunt thought he was listening for the breathing of the prawn to see if it was still alive, and she fondly

lifted his hand and placed it on the spot where he could feel the constant movement of the creature's

antennae. The young man released the ruffle and looked fixedly at his father. “You could have cured this from

the start,” he told him. “That's true,” his father answered, “but I just wanted you to come and see the prawn

that has been paying for your education these twenty years.“

In these sentences, the prawn most likely symbolizes

a. a craving for power and knowledge.

b. a sense of selfish motivation and greed.

c. a feeling of unity between father and son.

d. a secret shared between doctor and patient.

◦ b. a sense of selfish motivation and greed.

UNIT 2: THE LITERATURE OF THE AMERICAS II -

WRITINGENG10A

Class Website

Portfolio Modification

◦ The Unit 2 Portfolio has been modified. Students will not write a compare and contrast essay.

◦ Task: You will be writing a personal narrative essay on a lesson you learned from failure. Your essay will be a

5-paragraph, double-spaced essay. Make sure that you have a thesis statement at the end of your introduction

and clear topic sentences in each body paragraph.

◦ Prompt: The lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later success. Recount an incident or

time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

Looking ahead…

◦ Next LiveLesson

◦ 9/12 @ 11:00am

◦ Unit 2 – Readings, Grammar & Modified Portfolio

◦ Lesson Completion - 22% overall

◦ Alarms - Make sure you are staying out of alarm

◦ Contacts: call a teacher (me!)

◦ Attendance: get 28 hours a week and enter daily

◦ Participation: go do a lesson!

◦ Always check the Class Website for course materials and

follow the Class Calendar

◦ N. Nevada College and Career Fair – 10/12/18

◦ Click on the link to view on the NCA message board