Monday, April 27

--Today was a big day! Because we haven't really discussed the book in about 2 weeks, we had a lot to cover. We started with a quiz over ch. 19-26 and then did a quick whole-class discussion over the reading.
--We then reviewed the remaining 15 vocab words in the Literary Vocab Packet....though you don't need to memorize the definitions of these words, you will need to be comfortable using them for the final Nectar test on Friday, so be sure to study them!
--For the last part of class, we reviewed the steps to Passage Analysis using the information pasted below (or you can get a hard copy from the crate). You will need to use this info in order to do well on your Nectar final, which will be a passage analysis test. We spent the last 20 minutes of class working on a "practice" passage analysis (see last part of handout below) which I'll be grading and giving you feedback on for next time. If you were gone, either print out the info below or get a copy from the crate, and complete the paragraph passage analysis described at the bottom (back of the actual handout).
--HW: Finish book for Wednesday; photo assignments due Wednesday as well. Theme notes will be due on Friday when you take the final test.


Nectar in a Sieve
Passage Analysis Preparation

The purpose of today’s lesson is to introduce you to some of the elements of style that authors use in creating meaning in their works. In two classes, you will show your understanding of these ideas by writing your own short passage analysis as our final assessment on Nectar. (Be sure to keep this sheet so you can refer to it next class during your test.) The work you do in these next few classes will be very helpful in preparing you for the kind of analysis you will be doing junior and senior year.

Steps to Passage Analysis:
• Read your passage several times.
• As your read it, circle or underline words and phrases that strike you as interesting, unusual, or particularly effective. Write notes in the margins to help you remember your thoughts.
• Then, looking back at what you’ve noted, see if you notice any patterns. Do you see any motifs or recurrent images in the passage? What kinds of words does the author use? What kinds of metaphors? Is there a unique tone to the passage? These are just some of the questions to ask.
• Using your observations, make an argument about the effect of these style elements on the overall meaning or emotion of the passage. In other words, how does the way the author wrote the passage affect the way the reader thinks or feels about it?

Style Elements:
The terms listed below are the main elements to consider when doing a passage analysis. You should not try to discuss all of these, but only the ones that truly stand out in a given passage, usually two or three total. Use your Literary Vocab packet along with this list to help you.

• Diction. This is another term for “word choice.” What kinds of words does the author use in this passage? Are there any that have unique or special connotations (ideas we associate with the word beyond its literal meaning)? What effect do these words produce?
• Syntax. Note the construction of sentences—their length, their type (i.e. questions, declarations, etc.). Is there any specific effect created by this syntax? (For example, if the passage includes a lot of questions, what does that show us about the speaker’s state of mind?)
• Imagery/Figurative Language. How does the author appeal to the reader’s senses? Are there any metaphors or similes? What about symbolism or personification? If so, what effect do these have?
• Organization. Identify the time sequence of the passage. Is it chronological or non-linear? Does it use flashback or repetition? If so, what is the effect?
• Point of view. Identify the point of view as first or third person, limited or omniscient. Note how POV affects the relationship between the narrator and his/her world view.
• Tone. Identify the attitude of the speaker toward his/her subject. What emotional feeling in the reader is he/she trying to solicit?

Remember, it’s not enough to just identify that these elements are being used, you must also discuss their effect on the emotion or meaning of the passage.





Passage Analysis Practice

Read the passage below. Following the steps described on the back side of this sheet, identify one style element that Markandaya uses effectively in this passage and discuss its effect on the passage’s meaning. You should plan to write one well-developed paragraph for this. Start with your thesis: what kind of thinking or feeling does the passage inspire, and with what style element? Then, give specific examples (quotes of words or phrases) from the passage to support your argument. Be sure to end with a restatement of the element’s effect on the passage as a whole. (Note: in a full-length passage analysis, you would probably identify 2-3 elements and would devote one paragraph to each.)

Passage:

“It being near midday we sat down to rest by the roadside. A dozen or more children were playing there, dodging in and out of the traffic with a skill and indifference which I could not help admiring. For all their play they looked as if they had never eaten a full meal in their lives, with their ribs thrust out and bellies full-blown like drums with wind and emptiness; and they were also extremely dirty with the dust of the roadside and the filth deposited upon it; and the running sores many of them had upon their bodies were clogged with mud where blood or pus had exuded. But they themselves were forgetful of their pains—or patient with them as the bullock had been—and played naked and merry in the sun. Merry, that is, until a crust of bread fell on the road or a sweetmeat toppled from an over-ambitious pyramid when, all childishness lost, all play forgotten, they fought ferociously in the dust for the food…my children had fought thus, too, I remembered, but time had mellowed the memory or dimmed it, for it did not seem to me that they had struggled like these: teeth bared, nails clawing, ready, predatory like animals. But when a man of wealth passed they were as tender and pitiful as fledglings, beseeching with soft open mouths and limpid eyes, their begging bowls meekly held before them and altogether changed with an artfulness which surely my children had not at their command.”


Your Paragraph Analysis: