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English Reviewer 1st Quarter
English Reviewer 1st Quarter
The mother says to her son that life has not been a Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
“crystal stair” – it has had tacks and splinters and Life is but an empty dream!
torn boards on it, as well as places without carpet. For the soul is dead that slumbers,
The stair is bare. However, she still climbs on, And things are not what they seem.
reaching landings, turning corners, and persevering Life is real! Life is earnest!
in the dark when there is no light. She commands And the grave is not its goal;
him, “So boy, don’t you turn back.” She instructs Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
him not to go back down the stairs even if he thinks Was not spoken of the soul.
climbing is hard. He should try not to fall because
his mother is still going, still climbing, and her life Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
“ain’t been no crystal stair.”
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.
Analysis
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
Hughes structures the poem as a conversation And our hearts, though stout and brave,
between a mother and her son. It is free verse and Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
written in the vernacular, meaning that it mimics the
patterns of speech and diction of conversation. The In the world’s broad field of battle,
mother begins by telling her son how hard her life In the bivouac of Life,
has been – it has not been a "crystal stair." Hughes Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
then develops the metaphor of a staircase further, as Be a hero in the strife!
the mother describes the challenges in her life using Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant!
symbols like tacks, splinters, uncarpeted floor, and Let the dead Past bury its dead!
dark, unlit corners. She exhorts her son not to turn Act,— act in the living Present!
back, because she never will. Heart within, and God o’erhead!
Exhort (exhorts) – to try to influence by words or
advice Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
Tone And, departing, leave behind us
The tone of a poem is the attitude you feel in it — Footprints on the sands of time;
the writer’s attitude toward the subject or audience. Footprints, that perhaps another,
The tone in a poem of praise is approval. In a satire, Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
you feel irony. In an antiwar poem, you may feel A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
protest or moral indignation. Tone can be playful, Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate; others are part of a larger structure. Quatrains
Still achieving, still pursuing, usually use some form of rhyme scheme, especially
Learn to labor and to wait. the following forms: AAAA, AABB, ABAB, and
Earnest – serious and sincere
ABBA. Lines in quatrain can be any length and
Fleeting – lasting for only a short time
Stout – thick and strong with any meter, but there is usually a regular rhythm
Bivouac – a temporary camp or shelter to the lines as well.
Sublime – to elevate or exalt especially in dignity or
honor Limerick is a humorous poem consisting of five
Exalt – to present in a way that is very favorable lines. The first, second, and fifth lines must have
Forlorn – sad and lonely seven to ten syllables while rhyming and having the
same verbal rhythm. The third and fourth lines only
Interpretation
have to have five to seven syllables, and have to
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow argues that
rhyme with each other and have the same rhythm.
individuals should live active, full lives rather than Verbal rhythm – pattern of stressed and unstressed
passively allowing life to slip away. syllables.
Single quotation marks (‘’) are used when you are Anapestic Pattern – unstressed, unstressed,
quoting someone within a quotation. stressed (U U /)
E.g. The story said that, "All of the stores Dactylic Pattern – stressed, unstressed, unstressed
have burned down. The shop owner screamed 'I (/ U U)
cannot believe this as happening!' as the flames
engulfed her shop." Spondaic Pattern – stressed, stressed (/ /)
Speech conventions are the proper punctuation, Monometer – a line with 1 poetic foot, 2 or 3
stress, pause, grammar, engaging questions, syllables
emotions, and figurative languages used to deliver a Dimeter - a line with 2 poetic feet, 4 or 6 syllables
speech.
Trimeter – a line with 3 poetic feet, 6 or 9 syllables
Features of Poetry (Extension of
Tetrameter – a line with 4 poetic feet, 8 or 12
Poetic/Literary Devices) syllables
Poetic Foot is a repeated sequence of rhythm
Pentameter – a line with 5 poetic feet, 10 or 15
comprised of two or more stressed and/or unstressed
syllables
syllables in a meter. Examples of types of poetic
foot are: iamb, trochee, anapest, dactyl and spondee. Hexameter – a line with 6 poetic feet, 12 or 18
syllables
Couplet is a successive pair of lines in a poem. The
pair of lines that comprise a couplet generally Iambic Pentameter is line of verse consisting of
rhyme with each other and contain the same meter. five poetic feet where each foot consists of an
unstressed syllable and a stressed syllable.
Sonnet is a sonnet has 14 lines, and is written in
iambic pentameter. Each line has 10 syllables. The Trochaic Tetrameter a rapid meter of poetry
rhymes of a sonnet are arranged according to a consisting of four feet of trochees. A trochee is
certain rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme in made up of one stressed syllable followed by one
English is usually abab–cdcd–efef–gg. unstressed syllable (the opposite of an iamb). Here
Quatrain is a stanza in a poem that has exactly four is the flow of a line of trochaic tetrameter:
lines. Some quatrains comprise entire poems, while
BAboom / BAboom / BAboom / BAboom. Interpretation
"If" contains a multitude of characteristics deemed
Anapestic Trimeter, there are three metrical essential to the ideal man. They almost all express
anapestic feet, each of three syllables, giving each stoicism and reserve – the classic British "stiff
line nine total syllables. upper lip." In particular, a man must be humble,
patient, rational, truthful, dependable, and
Dactylic Hexameter (heroic hexameter) is persevering. His behavior in response to deleterious
traditionally associated with the quantitative meter events and cruel men is important; he must continue
of classical epic poetry in both Greek and Latin and to have faith in himself when others doubt him, he
was consequently considered to be the grand style must understand that his words might be twisted
of Western classical poetry. Some premier examples and used for evil, he must be able to deal with the
of its use are Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Virgil's highest and lowest echelons of society, and he must
Aeneid, and Ovid's Metamorphoses. be able to withstand the lies and hatred emanating
Lesson 6 from others.
Multitude – a great number of things or people
If Stoicism – the quality or behavior of a person who
By Rudyard Kipling accepts what happens without complaining or showing
emotion
If you can keep your head when all about you Deleterious – damaging or harmful
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; Echelon – a level of authority or responsibility
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, Emanate (emanating) – to come out from a source
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, (Literary Devices, see on lesson 1 & Speech
Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Convention, see on lesson 5)
Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise; Premium Features (hehehe)
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master; Context Clue is information (such as a definition,
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim; synonym, antonym, example, comparison or
If you can meet with triumph and disaster contrast) that appears near a word or phrase and
And treat those two impostors just the same; offers direct or indirect suggestions about its
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken meaning.
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken, E.g. He looked absolutely flummoxed, like
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn out tools; a toddler staring down at his feet on the floor and
who just isn't sure about this whole "walking" thing.
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, (comparison)
Flummox (flummoxed) – confuse
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss; Interjection, also known as an exclamation, is a
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew word, phrase, or sound used to convey an emotion
To serve your turn long after they are gone, such as surprise, excitement, happiness, or anger.
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on”; E.g. ahem, ahh, boo, eek, goodness
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, gracious, ha-ha, hello, hmm, oh no, oops, ouch,
Or walk with kings—nor lose the common touch; phew, shh, toot, u-huh, uh-oh, ugh, whoa, wow,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you; yeah, yikes, yippee, yo, yuck
If all men count with you, but none too much;
Inverted Word Order occurs when the subject
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run—
comes after the verb, in between verb parts, or is not
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, included at all.
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son! E.g. Reg. Form - Mom, you are making
Knave (knaves) – dishonest man
Stoop – to bend down or over dinner soon.
Sinew – strong tissue that connects muscles to bones
I.W.O. - Mom, are you making dinner
soon?
Example of Inverted Word Order Errors
1. When sentences begin with negative words such
as rarely, never, hardly ever, the auxiliary verb
precedes the subject.
Wrong: Never I will see her again.
Right: Never will I see her again.
2. The auxiliary verb precedes the subject in
abridged (shortened) clauses.
Wrong: We live in Santa Monica, and she does so.
Right: We live in Santa Monica, and so does she.
3. When the word "only " precedes the words if,
once, then, after, before or other adverbial clauses
or phrases, the verb precedes the subject in the
independent clause.
Wrong: Only before the show starts, you can enter
the room.
Right: Only before the show starts, can you enter
the room.
Wrong: Only if he gets a job, he will pay his tuition.
Right: Only if he gets a job, will he pay his tuition.
4. In the transposed word order used after a
prepositional phrase of place (up, down, in, out,
etc.) the verb or the object precedes the subject.
Wrong: Up the hill a white castle sits.
Right: Up the hill sits a white castle.
Discussion (by yours truly)
Meter vs Rhythm
Ang meter guys ay isang line sa isang poem. Ang
pinagkaiba ng meter sa rhythm, walang rhythm ang
isang poetry kung iisang line lang s’ya. Dapat
magkaroon ng 2 or more lines ang isang poem para
masabing may rhythm.