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Activity:
Hearing the Music
Submitted By:
Betty Joan Collins
Grade:
9-12
Details:
Hearing the Music in Poems by Byron Herbert Reece A Study Guide by Betty Joan Collins Four Expository Essays Questions for the Reader Activities for the Reader • Paraphrasing • Summarizing • Poetry Scansion • Choral Reading • Group Discussion • Writing An Essay Hearing the Music in Poems by Byron Herbert Reece: A Study Guide Lesson Plans for High School Juniors, Seniors and Adults By Betty Joan Collins Goals: Students will become familiar with the life and poetry of a noted Georgia writer by reading, studying, and discussing the poetry and life of Byron Herbert Reece. Class One Objective: The students will be able to write or express verbally facts about the life of Byron Herbert Reece. Materials: The Bitter Berry: The Life of Byron Herbert Reece, by Bettie M. Sellers. Pictures and play programs from The Reach of Song, by Tom DeTitta. Hearing the Music in Poems by Byron Herbert Reece, by Betty Joan Collins. A Song of Joy and Other Poems and The Season of Flesh by Byron Herbert Reece. Suggested Time: Each class is about 75 minutes. The entire booklet, Hearing the Music in Poems by Byron Herbert Reece, can be taught in eight classes. Each lesson can stand alone; however, student knowledge and interest increase over a series of classes. Note to instructors: I hereby grant permission to any instructor working to promote the cause of the Byron Herbert Reece Society to reproduce the entire booklet, Hearing the Music in Poems by Byron Herbert Reece, or any part of it, including lesson plans. Signed: Betty Joan Collins, 6-14-2007 Lesson Plan: 1. Introduce Byron Herbert Reece by displaying and discussing brochures and play programs. 2. Using the booklet, Hearing the Music in Poems by Byron Herbert Reece, present the facts of Reece’s life. 3. Play the video, The Bitter Berry: The Life of Byron Herbert Reece, by Bettie M. Sellers. The video lasts about 30 minutes. 4. Ask students to respond verbally to the video. This will initiate a lively discussion. 5. If a series of classes will be taught, ask the students to keep notebook where they will keep their notes and handouts. Assessment: Ask students to write a short paper contrasting the way of life shown on the video with life today in Union County. Assign: Do the matching of 20 terms in “Poetry Terminology,” page 17 of the study guide. Class Two Objective: The student will be able to point out various literary terms and outline the structure of an expository essay. Lesson Plan: 1. Check the poetry terminology terms exercise the students did for homework 2. Read “In the Corridor,” by Reece in The Season of Flesh. 3. Ask students for their first impressions of the poem. 4. Read to the students or have various students read the essay beginning on page 1 of the study guide. 5. Write the first stanza of the poem on the board and mark the rhyme scheme a b a b. 6. Ask students to find in the poem examples of alliteration shown in the essay. 7. Ask students to point out the symbols in the poem that are mentioned in the essay. Assign: Ask the students to show how the essay is organized by marking the thesis sentence in the first paragraph, all topic sentences, and any transitional phrases. Finish the poetry terminology exercise in the study guide, pages 17 and 18. Class Three Objective: Students will be able to name and find examples of four techniques for understanding poetry. Students will be able to explain the difference between a paraphrase and a summary. Note to instructor: Students will need a careful introduction to the poem in this lesson. The following introduction will help students cope with some of the images in the poem. Byron Herbert Reece was greatly influenced by the writing of Samuel T. Coleridge(1771-1894). In the poem, “The Betrothed from the Grave,” there are many similarities to Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” Deaths of shipmates are described in detail. The Ancient Mariner wears a dead albatross around his neck. All of this imagery is not beautiful, but it is so vivid that readers remember it years later. Reece is pushing the envelope of our imaginations in his poem, “The Betrothed from the Grave.” Some of the images are not beautiful, in fact, they may be frightening and horrible, but Reece has a reason for making them so memorable. Are you up to the challenge of reading this poem? If so, work up your courage, and here we go! Lesson Plan: 1. Write on the board some of the words that are likely to be unfamiliar to the students since the language is that of an ancient folk ballad, such as betrothed and livid. Read the poem, “The Betrothed from the Grave.” 2. After hearing comments from students, read the essay in the study guide, “Techniques for Understanding Meaning in ‘The Betrothed from the Grave.’” Note to instructor: At this point the instructor must decide whether or not the students will write an expository essay. Directions for writing the essay are in the study guide on page 12. The instructor should guide the students through the steps of writing, allowing a period of time in several classes to assist students and having the papers due the last class period. The students may read their papers. Class Four Objective: Students will incorporate the methods of writing set forth in the essay, “Unfolding Meaning in ‘A Song of Joy,’” in the study guide, page 8, as they write an expository essay. Lesson Plan: 1. Discuss with the students the inspiration for the title of the study guide as explained at the front of the booklet. 2. Read “A Song of Joy,” in A Song of Joy and Other Poems. The instructor may read or the students may read . 3. Read “Unfolding Meaning in ‘A Song of Joy,’ ” page 8 in the study guide. 4. After class discussion of the poem and essay, ask the students to examine closely the structure of the essay. Ask them to find the thesis sentence, all topic sentences, and any transitional words or phrases. Tell them the essay they are writing will follow this form. 5. If the instructor is teaching poetry scansion, follow the instruction on page 11 of the study guide. Class Five Objective: Students will apply their knowledge of literary terminology (study guide, page 17 and 18) as they find specific examples in several short poems. 1. Read several short poems: “The Disparates,” “ Astronomics,” “Encounter,” “The Country Guest,” “The Stay-At-Home,” and “At Autumn Things Are All At Odds,” all from The Season of Flesh. 2. Discuss using page 6 of the study guide. 3. In “At Autumn Things Are All At Odds,” have students find the personification in stanza one, the metaphor in stanza three. In stanza four with what noun does spreads agree? What is the theme of the poem? Class Six Objective: Students will expand their knowledge of patterns in literature to incorporate the archetypal pattern of rebirth as they point out the key elements of the pattern in “A Song of Dura.” Lesson Plan: 1. Read “A Song of Dura,” from A Song of Joy and Other Poems. This poem is 20 pages long and is based upon the biblical “The Book of Daniel,” chapter 3. The students are probably familiar with the story, but they can read the biblical story and sections of “A Song of Dura.” 2. This poem follows the archetypal pattern of rebirth; therefore, stanzas showing the key points in that pattern can be read as follows: 1. Sinking downward: last stanza of section 2 2. Quiescence(inactivity, sleep or death): section 9 3. Renewal: section 10 3. If the students are writing an essay, ask them to bring the outline and rough draft to the next class. Class Seven Objective: The students will create a scene with visual and oral components which depicts the speech and dress of the early Appalachian people. Lesson Plan: Learning Activity 1. On the day before the lesson, tell the students they will be doing a choral reading of “The Weaver.” Ask students to come to class dressed in the Appalachian style of clothing in the early 20th century. Suggest that they wear sun bonnets, hats, long skirts, aprons, overalls or bring other items of the period. 2. Do a choral reading of “The Weaver,” from A Song of Joy and Other Poems. Follow the directions for this activity on page 15 of the study guide. 3. Assign roles according to instructions in the study guide. 4. Have students practice reading the poem aloud. 5. If possible, video tape the final reading of the poem. 6. Place students in small groups to discuss the topics in number 2, on page 15 of the study guide. 7. Ask the groups to present the results of their discussions to the class. 8. Assist students with completing their essays. Check and assist with improving the thesis sentence, outline and rough draft. 9. Students should revise and complete the final draft of the essay which is due the next class. Class Eight Objectives: Students will view a video of their choral reading of “The Weaver,” giving them a different perspective of the poem and scene. Lesson Plan: 1. Final draft of the essay is due. 2. Students may read their essays to the class. 3. Play the video tape of the choral reading for the class. 4. Ask the students to critique the video. 5. Students may do a critique of the class. Reece's Use of Poetic Devices in "In the Corridor" Byron Herbert Reece was born in a hand-hewn log cabin in the mountains of north Georgia. He grew up on a farm, but his education began early. He had read large portions of the Bible and Pilgrim's Progress before he was six years old. Throughout the remainder of his life, he read and wrote extensively. He wrote novels and poetry whose musical purity, according to Dr. Raymond Cook in his Reece biography, Mountain Singer: The Life and the Legacy of Byron Herbert Reece, has been unsurpassed in this country (143). In Reece's volume of poetry, The Season of Flesh, there are examples of lyric poetry as well as ballads, and these poems illustrate the poet's skillful use of poetic devices, organization of stanzas, and symbolism. In the poem, "In the Corridor," the poet uses various poetic devices. This is a lyric poem which focuses on one moment suspended in time, a moment when the poet's glance meets the glance of another student. The poem creates an unforgettable image in the mind of the reader. Just how does the poet create this image? Two elements which contribute to the total effect of the poem are the rhyme and rhythm. He uses an a b a b rhyme scheme which is consistent throughout the poem. The meter is dactylic (stressed, unstressed, unstressed) with variations. The rhythm moves the reader through the poem until the fourth stanza when the irregular last line propels the reader into the last stanza. Though the rhyme and rhythm are important aspects of the poem, other elements are very interesting. For example, a predominant figure of speech in the poem is alliteration. In the first line he creates a somber mood in the expression, "...a day all dull and dun." In the second line he writes, "The sun may have shone at the first for a little space." He ends stanza three with "laughing lot." All these expressions create contrasting images of dullness and dimness and of bright sunshine and laughing students. Another device which Reece uses in this poem is the organization of the stanzas. The first stanza is general, giving an overview of the situation and setting the mood. Stanzas two, three, and four contain specific events and images which lead to the crucial fifth stanza. Since the entire poem leads to this stanza, it deserves careful examination. This fifth stanza gives various perspectives of time. In the first line of the stanza the poet uses the expression, "ageless music of Herrick." The word "ageless" prompts the mind to see for a moment the scope of time, age following age, yet all connected somehow in the "music [poetry] of Herrick." In line two the phrase, "aging day," changes perspective again from a general, sweeping view of time through the centuries to a more immediate view of the present day, which is getting older rapidly, and a specific item of the day, "the book." In the last two lines the poet freezes a split second of time, and he creates an image that the reader can examine as though through a magnifying glass. This final image is actually extended from line four of the first stanza where the reader sees a "figure departing." This figure is "grave" and "unsmiling," expressing an attitude contrasting sharply with the attitude toward life suggested by the mentioning of the poet Herrick in the second stanza. Therefore, it is a moment of deep and serious communication with no exchange of words between the two, only a "fleeting backward look." On a deeper level, however, the poem seems highly symbolic, with some of the symbols being obvious and others being quite subtle. The corridor is an appropriate symbol for life. The clouds, in addition to helping to create the mood, also stand for troubles in life. On the other hand, the sun indicates good fortune and happiness. The classroom is a microcosm of the earth or perhaps the universe. Even the mention of the poet, Robert Herrick, is significant. Since the seventeenth century poet wrote the familiar line, "Gather ye rose buds while you may," Reece is calling attention to a specific attitude toward life. These images all expand in the mind of the reader, and all contribute to the theme of the poem: the transience of beauty and life and the poignance of fleeting youth (Cook 141). Apparently Reece considered this poem unique. It stands first in the book, apart from the other poems. Its beautiful, vivid images ring fresh and true. Every word of the poem, every syllable, every image serves the specific purpose of illuminating that one remarkable glance and its significance. Techniques for Understanding Meaning in "The Betrothed from the Grave" One of the best ways to enjoy poetry is to hear it read aloud by an excellent reader. Such a reader conveys the meaning of the words of the poem by the tone, volume, and rhythm of his voice. He can increase or decrease the rate at which he reads. He can pause. He can emphasize words or phrases, and he can instantly adjust all of these techniques using feedback from his audience. However, a willing reader is not always present. In such a situation one may utilize several methods to aid in enjoying and understanding a poem. One way to extract the meaning of a poem is to paraphrase it. Using Reece's ballad, "The Betrothed from the Grave," it is a simple matter to paraphrase the poem. The following is a paraphrase of stanzas one through four: Night was coming and Margaret sat in her room sewing by the light of a candle. William knocked at her door. He was different from the way he was when he knocked at her door as her fiance. He no longer breathed. William stood there, a ghost just arrived from the graveyard. He had been buried a long time, but he awakened to the sound of Margaret's weeping. When she wept, he woke in his grave, tore the grave apart and carrying his coffin went to her (17). Since the ballad is long, the paraphrase becomes too tedious; therefore, a summary (a more concise retelling) can be a helpful method to use in searching for the poem's meaning. The following is a summary of the remaining stanzas: After he enters her room, she asks what it is like in the grave. When he says it is well, she says she will follow him there. Then he says that it really is like hell. Thereupon she says she will never stop weeping. He forbids her to cry, saying that when she cries, his coffin fills with blood. He says that when she sighs, he hears; but when she sings, his grave is like a rose garden. After the crowing of the cocks, he returns to his grave telling her never to weep for him any more (17-20). The last two stanzas reveal whether she wept or sang: Sighing or singing in her bower Fair Margaret sewed alone Until death came and graved her name With William's on the stone. His room betimes was drenched with blood, Betimes, if she had sung, Like gardens green his grave within With the rose-leaf was hung. (20) Another helpful way to get at the meaning of a poem is to compare the poem to another more familiar poem. Reece's ballad, "The Betrothed from the Grave," is similar in some ways to the "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," by Samuel T. Coleridge. Of course, the ballad form and rhyme scheme (a b c b with internal rhyme in the third line of every stanza) are alike, but the similarity of the diction of the two poets is striking. For example, Reece uses the same biblical references as Coleridge, such as "Tree" and "Jesus Christ." He also uses other words identical to those in the "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," for example, "kirk" and "ghost." It is often helpful to point out specific figures of speech used in a poem. In "The Betrothed from the Grave," the poet uses effective figures of speech and language. In the first line, "The night crept dark to Margaret's door," he uses personification. This line arouses the reader's curiosity and sets the tone of the poem. The language Reece uses is typical of the ancient folk ballad. Several such expressions are, "livid ghost," "I must away," "Oh, haste home, fair Margaret," and "Never weep me more." Through the use of paraphrase, summary, comparison, and examination of figures of speech, the reader can usually achieve an understanding of the meaning of a poem. Through the use of these techniques, the reader may surmise that the theme of "The Betrothed from the Grave" is that survivors should not spend their lives weeping after the death of loved ones, that lifelong grieving may hurt the spirits of the departed. ~~~~~~ Practice for the Reader Using poems from The Season of Flesh by Byron Herbert Reece, answer the following questions. Find help below. 1. From which poem does Reece take the title of his book? What does the stanza containing the line mean? 2. What is the meaning of the poem, "Astronomics"? 3. Compare "The Dark and the Light" with Tennyson's "Flower in a Crannied Wall." 4. What is the extended metaphor in "The Fallow"? What is the theme? 5. Paraphrase "Encounter." 6. What is the meaning of "The Country Guest"? 7. Who is the protagonist of "The Stay-At-Home"? What is the irony of the poem? 8. What is the alliteration in the first stanza of "The Fallen Snow"? 9. Read "At Autumn Things Are All at Odds." Allow your mind to see the images. Paraphrase or retell each stanza. Consider the theme. Relish the beauty of those refrains. Hear the music. Practice for the Reader These are suggested answers for the questions above. 1. The book gets its title from "The Disparates." Just as the vine and leaf grow and entwine during their season, the bone and flesh are joined, but only for a season. 2. In "Astronomics" the poet says that astronomers think they can know how a planet is populated by analyzing the characteristics of the environment, but taken symbolically (and this is the good part) the poet says that certain people feel that they can evaluate the type of person one is by examining his background and environment. He is using gentle satire to chide such judgemental people. This subtle humor is typical of Reece. He was often judged to be a "country bumpkin," but it is likely that Reece's genius soared beyond that which his critics could understand. 3. Tennyson's "Flower in A Crannied Wall," 1864, and Reece's "The Dark and the Light," 1953, have themes. Each poet is discussing an orderly universe which man can understand if he can comprehend the growth of a single plant. 4. In "The Fallow" the heart is compared to a tall granite which sifts down through time and makes an uncultivated area "Where seeds take root and grow." The shoots grow rapidly and bear love and wrath. The theme: Love produces "tender blossoms" and wrath produces "bitter fruit." 5. A paraphrasing of "Encounter": Early I met an old man. I had my life almost all ahead of me; he was very old, near death. Suddenly his cloak seemed to turn to husk. The poet has a glimpse of the old man as he would be when his life ended. The poem is concerned with the cycle of life, with youth and old age contrasted in the characters of the young man and the old man. 6. "The Country Guest" is about the "bereavement" a guest from the country feels when visiting "In corridors of tile." Even the pages show their contempt by gossiping about the guest. This poem deals with the universal idea of alienation which everyone surely has felt at one time or another. 7. The protagonist in this poem is probably Reece himself. He describes his own way of life explicitly. The point of the poem is that even though he says he wants to remain at home, he is fascinated by distant lands and anything or anyone going away. 8. In the first stanza of "The Fallen Snow," Reece shows masterly control in his use of alliteration by using the words, "Sorrow," "snow," and "spheres." The remaining two stanzas show a continuing use of the letter s. The alliteration does not detract the reader's attention from the meaning of the poem, but instead it enhances the meaning. Notice that poetry demands more of a reader than prose because of its compactness and intensity. A close examination of the poetic devices used in a poem can help the reader understand and enjoy poetry. Unfolding Meaning in "A Song of Joy" A good poet seems to have a vision of life which is intuitive and perceptive. An excellent poet can enable a reader to appreciate many aspects of life. A reader can benefit from the poet's insights by careful reading and study of the poetry. Byron Herbert Reece's poem, "A Song of Joy," gives the reader perspectives that can aid in understanding the nature of joy. In "A Song of Joy," the poet uses narration, various poetic devices, and the quest motif in order to state his theme. In "A Song of Joy," Reece uses the technique of narration. He immediately piques the curiosity of the reader by asking whether there is a better way of spending time than searching for joy. Innately interested in joy, the reader wants to find out how the poet conducts his search and what he learns as a result of this search. The poet begins his search by riding out in the morning "under the leaves of life." He meets sorrow and asks, "Must I see sorrow . . . while joy is hiding?" Not finding joy there, he rides past a priest, a scholar, a farmer, a miller, and a sage, all engaged in their occupations. He cries to the sage, "What or where is joy?" The sage gives a riddle-like answer. The poet rides on and encounters grief, weeping, hunger, many types of fear, madness, and Death. The poet begs Death, "Open one door and show me joy!" Death consents, saying that he will take the poet on a "backward journey" in time. On this journey the poet (and the reader along with him) experiences many events and sees many sights. Both the poet and the reader learn. In addition to the narrative technique, the poet uses figures of speech and imagery throughout the poem. These devices demand the reader's attention and involve him in the unfolding of the poem. One figure of speech which the poet uses is personification. He personifies Death by capitalizing the word and addressing Death as a person in lines such as, "Hear me, O Death." Thus personification and apostrophe lend immediacy and realism to the concept of death. Another effective device which the poet uses is imagery. An especially vivid image occurs in section two where the poet writes: And we two turning, Death and I Rode under the burning Evening sky. . . . Pale in their pastures Every beast His early shadow Cast toward the east. (20) The images are crucial to understanding what is happening in the poem. Since Death and the poet are going backward in time, the reader can visualize that "The sun in the west/Began to rise." Therefore, the shadows of the beasts in the field are now cast toward the east. Still another figure of speech is the simile which the poet uses in section two when Death chides, "Had you no joy/Or these had died?" The poet answers: O Yes! I said, Then pierced with pain I saw those dead Lie down again, Each like a child Put back to bed Pulling his mound Above his head. (21) The poet uses these techniques in such a natural, unobtrusive way that the reader must be alert in order to recognize and understand their importance in the poem. Another more subtle element of the poem is the pattern of the quest. In this archetypal pattern, the outer sequence of events in the poem triggers a series of intellectual and emotional responses in the reader. The quest motif emerges early in the poem as the poet begins his search for joy. Through this search he is seeking fulfillment. As he travels back in time with Death, the poet sees many sights. One significant scene occurs when he sees his loved ones rise from their graves. Only when Death asks him whether he had no joy before these had died did the poet realize how much joy he had known when his loved ones were living. True to the quest pattern, the poet is tempted to stop his journey. He first is tempted to stay with the parson and later with the sage as each gives his definition of joy. Knowing that ultimately he will receive Death's kiss, he travels on with the fixed intent of reaching his goal. Because he has been curious, willing to listen, and steadfast in his intent, the poet learns something about joy. Through the use of narration, poetic devices, and the archetypal pattern of the quest, the poet writes a compelling poem. The poet himself never defines joy; instead he shows characters who lack joy and characters who find joy. He shows a situation where a person is unaware of the joy that had been in his life until he looks back upon past experiences. The reader who has followed the powerful sequences of the poem feels an intellectual and emotional response. Through the moving passages of the poem, he learns something about the fleeting, illusory nature of joy. Activities for the Reader Using the poem, "A Song of Joy," by Byron Herbert Reece, from A Song of Joy and Other Poems, do the following activities. 1. Make a copy of the first page of the poem, "A Song of Joy." 2. Circle the first letter of each word where you find alliteration. Do you see a pattern? In which part of the poem is there more alliteration? What effect does this difference have on the reader? 3. Starting with the first line of the page you have copied, scan the stanzas by marking every accented syllable with a stress mark and every unaccented syllable with a mark showing no stress. Read the lines aloud as you mark the syllables. Scanning the lines in this manner will not only reveal in an auditory and a visual way the rhythm of the stanzas but it will also enable you to feel the rhythm as you mark the syllables. The pencil will seem to function in a way similar to that of a baton in the hands of a conductor. Notice the many stanzas containing iambic feet (unstressed, stressed). Note the interesting use of the anapestic foot as in the first and second stanzas of the poem and in the first stanza of the "madness" section. Since a long poem written totally in iambic meter becomes boring, the writer has varied the meter by interspersing anapestic feet among the iambic feet. 4. Now, looking throughout the poem, can you tell which stanza is repeated (with variations)? What is the effect of this repetition? What significant change occurs in the first line of the last two repetitions? 5. Examine the riddle-like responses which occur after each of the repetitions. Read the responses aloud. What metaphors do you find in the responses? 6. Write your own thoughts about the poem. Begin by jotting down all ideas as they occur to you. After you have a number of ideas, try grouping related ideas together. Label the main ideas with Roman numerals. Try to have three main ideas. On another sheet of paper formulate an outline using your three ideas as the main topics. Under each main topic list at least three supporting ideas and label these A, B, and C. Next write your thesis sentence which includes your three main points and makes clear your purpose in writing the paper. At this point, your thoughts for the paper are basically organized; but as you think about the topic over a period of time (perhaps several days), other thoughts will occur to you which you may want to add to the outline. From the thesis and outline, write your paper. Have an introductory paragraph which includes the thesis. Write three developmental paragraphs following the outline and using the three Roman numerals and supporting ideas. End with a concluding paragraph. The expository essays within these pages follow this method and pattern of writing. Study the essays as you write your paper. You will find that your thinking about the topic becomes more clear as you write. Reece's poetry is worthy of critical examination and study. The magnificence of his verse invites appreciation and enjoyment. The Archetypal Pattern of Rebirth in "A Song of Dura" Who has not marveled at the biblical story of Jonah or "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel T. Coleridge? What gives these stories such power and the reader such a sense of fulfillment? Both stories follow the archetypal pattern of rebirth. The characters in these stories are shown as having certain characteristics; but through events that they experience, they are totally changed. The outer sequence of events in the stories triggers an inner response in the reader so that the reader feels a sense of fulfillment. In A Song of Joy and Other Poems, by Byron Herbert Reece, the poem, "A Song of Dura," based on the biblical Book of Daniel, chapter three, follows the rebirth pattern. This pattern unfolds as the character of Chadnezzar develops. His character is shown through his actions, through the attitudes of others toward him, and through his rebirth experience. One way that the character of Chadnezzar is revealed is through his actions. After setting up on the Plain of Dura an image made of gold, "The king sat kingly in his hall." His minions "looked on the king so royal," envying him "Because they each were not king." What a vivid picture Reece presents in the second and third stanzas where he shows Chadnezzar on his throne, now and then touching his lips or brow with his fingers. Occasionally he rises and, "inclining from the hips," makes a "kingly bow" to the golden image. The king's fear of the god of gold is clear as he bids his kingdom come and bow before the statue. A sulky, moody king is depicted when the bowing of the people does not elicit a response from the golden image, "Therefore the king sat black and mute." Later Chadnezzar's terrible wrath explodes when the three slaves, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, refuse to bow to the image. When he "laughs into his beard" and orders the three slaves cast into the fiery furnace, his cynical and cruel attitude emerges. His eyes "were hard with haughty hate" and "were livid with cruel desire." All of his actions prove him to be selfish and full of pride. Although Chadnezzar's character is revealed through his actions, another more subtle method of exposing his character is through the attitude of other people toward him. For example, each man bows before the throne fully realizing that the god is only a gold semblance but also realizing that "kings cast down or elevate according as their pleasures weigh this way or that the scales of fate." The people realize this cruel king will quickly and unhesitatingly punish them if they do not please him by obeying his wishes. Another example which demonstrates the king's bad temper is the fact that the three slaves work with "might and main . . . lest the king find cause for wrath, and lop a Hebrew head." These lines show that the slaves are working in fear that they might be killed at any moment by the testy king. The attitude of the people toward Chadnezzar shows him to be an evil egomaniac. The final method of revealing the character of Chadnezzar is through his rebirth experience. When he calls When he calls the three from the fiery furnace and they walk forth unharmed, Chadnezzar begins to shake in fear. When he asks about the fourth man that he had seen walking in the furnace, he willingly listens. This is a period of inactivity or quiescence when he opens his mind as the three slaves explain that the fourth man was the one true God. The change in Chadnezzar is immediate and complete. At that moment he can see that the golden god is "the shape of his pride"; and as his pride fades, the god melts like ice into the plain. Then the once cruel king cries to the people, "There is a God no man has seen." He also says that the three slaves "shall be promoted in Babylon." His character becomes totally different: His pride disappears, he acknowledges God, and he promotes Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Reece's belief in ultimate joy sings through the rhythmical passages of this poem. The reader unconciously experiences Chadnezzar's sin, his quiescence, and rebirth. The reader is moved by this experience and feels a sense of fulfillment and joy. ~~~~~~ Exercises for the Reader 1. Do a choral reading of "The Weaver," from Reece's A Song of Joy and Other Poems, pages 56-59. Have a single voice for the weaver. If male and female voices are available, have the female voices read the second verse of each stanza and the male voices read the last verse of each stanza. 2. In small groups, discuss the following topics based on "The Weaver." A. Discuss the effect of the repeated second and fourth verses. B. What happens in the last stanza? C. How does the manner in which the last stanza is written contribute to the meaning of the poem? D. What is the point of view of the poem? E. How is the point of view different in four specific stanzas of the poem? F. What is the purpose of this difference in point of view? G. What is the first hint of a mystical element in the poem? H. What does the stranger symbolize? I. Who is the weaver literally and symbolically? J. What does the stranger mean when he says, "Yet one piece more and your weaving is done"? K. What figures of speech are used in the poem? Name three figures of speech, tell where each is located in the poem, and explain its significance. 3. Read "A Song of Dura." 4. Read chapter three of Daniel in the Bible. 5. Discuss the obvious stylistic differences of the two methods of telling the story. Poetry Terminology Write the letter of the term beside the definition. 1. A single line of poetry. 2. A figure of speech in which an absent person, an abstract quality or an inanimate object is addressed directly. 3. A short poem or brief passage in a longer poem expressing intense personal emotion. 4. A poem which has all the elements of a short story. 5. Repetition of consonant sounds at the beginnings of words. 6. Words imitating the sound of the thing spoken about. 7. A figure of speech implying a comparison of two things. 8. The use of one thing to represent something else. 9. Unrhymed iambic pentameter. 10. The repetition of vowel sounds in a verse. 11. A comparison of two things using the words like and as. 12. A long narrative poem usually about a national hero. 13. A comparison which is continued through several lines. 14.The author's attitude toward the ideas expressed in the poem. 15. The use of concrete, sensory details to make the reader see a picture. 16. Giving human characteristics to inanimate objects. 17. The techniques an author uses to create a character. 18. A group of verses set apart to resemble a paragraph. 19. A narrative song or poem handed down (usually orally) from generation to generation. 20. Specific devices for achieving the effects of figurative language. 21. Implies a meaning or an attitude different from (and often opposite to) that which is literally expressed. 22. The reaction of the reader to a literary work. 23. The use of words in a rhyme scheme which don't quite rhyme. 24. A device for placing opposing ideas in grammatical parallel. 25. The use of words in a rhyme scheme which in writing seem to be rhymes, but when spoken do not rhyme. 26. An expression which indicates a halt at the end of a verse. 27. A poem containing fourteen lines and having a specific rhyme scheme. 28. A solemn poem of lament. 29. A poem of tribute. 30. Exaggeration for effect. 31. A figure of speech expressing a flat contradiction. 32. A statement which seems absurd but actually has meaning. 33. Two lines, one following the other, which rhyme. 34. A process of marking the accented and unaccented syllables to determine meter in poetry. 35. Poetry which doesn't adhere to a specific rhythmic pattern and rhyme scheme. 36. An indirect reference or casual mention of an idea or literary figure. 37. A patterned arrangement of syllables in a verse. 38. A literary work in which concepts (ideas) become characters. a. blank verse z. hyperbole b. lyric aa. irony c. tone bb. meter d. figures of speech cc. ode e. stanza dd. oxymoron f. verse ee. sonnet g. narrative ff. end stopped h. onomatopoeia gg. mood i. alliteration hh. paradox j. symbolism ii. off rhyme k. metaphor jj. scansion l. apostrophe kk. couplet m. extended metahor ll. eye rhyme n. imagery o. ballad Answer Key: p. epic 1.f, 2.l, 3.b, 4.g, 5.i, 6.h, 7.k, q. personification 8.j, 9.a, 10.t, 11.s, 12.p, 13.m, 14.c, r. characterization 15.n, 16.q, 17.r, 18.e, 19.o, 20.d. s. simile 21.aa, 22.gg, 23.ii, 24.w. 25.ll, 26.ff, t. assonance 27.ee, 28.x, 29.cc, 30.z, 31.dd, 32.hh, u. allegory 33.kk, 34.jj, 35.y, 36.v, 37.bb, 38.u v. allusion w. antithesis x. elegy y. free verse Works Cited Cook, Raymond. Mountain Singer: The Life and The Legacy of Byron Herbert Reece. Atlanta: Cherokee Publishing Company, 1980. Reece, Byron Herbert. A Song of Joy and Other Poems. New York: E. P. Dutton & Company, Inc., 1952; Atlanta: Cherokee Publishing Company, 1985. Reece, Byron Herbert. The Season of Flesh. New York: E. P. Dutton & Company, Inc., 1955; Atlanta: Cherokee Publishing Company, 1985. Poems by Byron Herbert Reece Cited in The Study Guide Season of Flesh “In the Corridor” “The Betrothed from the Grave” “The Disparates” “Astronomics” “The Dark and the Light” “The Fallow” “Encounter” “The Country Guest” “The Stay-At-Home” “The Fallen Snow” “At Autumn Things Are All at Odds” A Song of Joy and Other Poems “A Song of Joy” “A Song of Dura” “The Weaver”
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