More Strong Paragraphs

This paragraph is a response to the poem "Against Idleness and Mischief," and addresses the concept of theme, which we discussed in class today.

This is a TEAC paragraph:

Topic Sentence

Examples

Analysis

Conclusion

What is the central theme of "Against Idleness and Mischief?"

 The central theme of "Against Idleness and Mischief" is that hard work is important because it is the key to staying out of trouble. The busy bee is like the ideal individual--hard-working as she collects honey from flowers and builds wax cells to store it. The speaker says that he would also be busy like the bee, warning that "Satan finds some mischief still / for idle hands to do." The busy bee is constantly occupied, and therefore has no time to be idle; therefore, no time for mischief. By following the speaker's example, good children can do the same if they want to stay out of trouble.

Notice that the topic sentence answers the question, stating the central theme of the poem. The next two sentences provide details from the poem that support the central point. The examples show that the bee is good and hard-working. The example also shows that the speaker of the poem believes that working hard is a good thing, and helps keep young people away from "mischief." Therefore, the bee is a model to be followed, since hard work will help keep you out of trouble.

Classwork assignment:

Write a TEAC paragraph answering the following question:

What is the main theme of "How doth the Little Crocodile?" Label each sentence according to the TEAC model (Topic sentence, Example, Analysis, Conclusion).

Victorian Childhood

This assignment is worth 17 points!


What was Victorian childhood like?

“On the one hand the child was the source of hope, of virtue, or emotion: along with the angelic wife, he was the repository of family values which seemed otherwise to be disappearing from an increasingly secular world.... But at the same time, and of course much less obviously, the child was a hardship, an obstacle to adult pleasure, and a reminder of one's baser self. He might be innocent, untainted by sexual knowledge, uncorrupted by the world of business, free from the agony of religious doubt; yet he was also potentially wicked and needed constant guidance and discipline.”

LuAnn Walthe ("The Victorian Invention of Childhood")

In your own words, what is the author above describing about childhood? What is contradictory here (3 points)?

Against Idleness And Mischief
Isaac Watts

How doth the little busy bee
Improve each shining hour,
And gather honey all the day
From every opening flower!

How skillfully she builds her cell!
How neat she spreads the wax!
And labours hard to store it well
With the sweet food she makes.

In works of labour or of skill,
I would be busy too;
For Satan finds some mischief still
For idle hands to do.

In books, or work, or healthy play,
Let my first years be passed
That I may give for every day
Some good account at last.

How Doth The Little Crocodile
Lewis Carroll

How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale!

How cheerfully he seems to grin,
How neatly spread his claws,
And welcome little fishes in
With gently smiling jaws!

Response to Poetry

On a loose-leaf sheet of paper, and in complete sentences answer the following questions about the poems “Against Idleness And Mischief” and “How Doth The Little Crocodile” as completely as possible. Each question is worth 2 points, except #6, which is worth 4 points.

1. What is the main idea of “Against Idleness and Mischief?”
2. What is the busy bee like? What is it doing throughout the poem? Look back at “Against Idleness and Mischief” for examples.
3. What is the main idea of “How doth the Little Crocodile?”
4. What is the crocodile like? What is it doing throughout the poem? Look back at “How Doth The Little Crocodile” for examples.
5. Contrast the alligator and the bee. How are they different?
6. Choose one important action that each animal (bee and crocodile) does in their poem. Write a short poem about each action.

Homework (due 9/22)

Response to Poetry:

Respond to the poem "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein by answering the following questions:

1. How does the speaker describe "the place where the sidewalk ends"? (Stanza 1)

2. What does the speaker leave behind as he or she approaches "the place where the sidewalk ends"? (Stanza 2)

3. What do "the children know"?

4. Write a 4th stanza to the poem "Where the Sidewalk Ends."

some ideas:
- how do they get there?
- what is it like when they arrive?
- what kind of place is it?

Where the Sidewalk Ends

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch

where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends

Response to Poetry

Response to Poetry:

Respond to the Poem "Forgotten Language" by Shel Silverstein by answering the following questions:

1. What is it that the speaker can no longer do?

2. Do you think the speaker enjoyed knowing the secret language? How do you know?

3. "How did it go?" What do you think?

Forgotten Language by Shel Silverstein

Once I spoke the language of the flowers,
Once I understood each word the caterpillar said,
Once I smiled in secret at the gossip of the starlings,
And shared a conversation with the housefly
in my bed.
Once I heard and answered all the questions
of the crickets,
And joined the crying of each falling dying
flake of snow,
Once I spoke the language of the flowers. . . .
How did it go?
How did it go?

Respond to the Poem "One Inch Tall" by Shel Silverstein by answering the following questions:

1. What examples does the speaker give of what it's like to be one inch tall?

2. What do we learn about the speaker at the end of the poem? What is interesting about his or her perspective?

3. Write your own version of "one Inch Tall."

One Inch Tall by Shel Silverstein

If you were only one inch tall, you'd ride a worm to school.
The teardrop of a crying ant would be your swimming pool.
A crumb of cake would be a feast
And last you seven days at least,
A flea would be a frightening beast
If you were one inch tall.

If you were only one inch tall, you'd walk beneath the door,
And it would take about a month to get down to the store.
A bit of fluff would be your bed,
You'd swing upon a spider's thread,
And wear a thimble on your head
If you were one inch tall.

You'd surf across the kitchen sink upon a stick of gum.
You couldn't hug your mama, you'd just have to hug her thumb.
You'd run from people's feet in fright,
To move a pen would take all night,
(This poem took fourteen years to write--
'Cause I'm just one inch tall).