THE SOUND OF SILENCE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbtsC9SNLN8

JOIN
Hello darkness, creeping
I've come to my old friend
Because a vision
talk with you again
Left its seeds
And the vision that was planted softly in my brain still remains
Within the sound of silence while I was sleeping

CHOOSE THE WORDS FOR THE BLANKS

NEON - TOUCHED – RESTLESS- STABBED –DAMP - COBBESTONE

In …………………………… dreams, I walked alone

Narrow streets of ………………………………………….
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and …………………..
When my eyes were ……………….. by
the flash of a ………………… light
That split the night
And ………………………… the sound of silence.

CHOOSE THE CORRECT WORD:

And in the naked ( night / light ), I saw

Ten thousand people, maybe ( poor / more )
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing ( songs / sons ) at voices never shared
And no one ( deer / dared )
Disturb the sound of silence
COMPLETE WITH THE WORD YOU HEAR:

"Fools" said I, "You …………….. know

Silence like a …………….. grows
Hear my …………… that I might teach you
Take my ………………. that I might reach you"
But my words, like ……………. raindrops fell
And …………………. in the wells of silence

PUT THEM IN THE CORRECT ORDER:

…….To the neon god they made

….... And whispered in the sound of silence.
……And the people bowed and prayed
……In the words that it was forming
……Then the sign said, "The words on the prophets
……are written on the subway walls
……And the sign flashed out its warning
……In tenement halls"

LET´S ANALIZE TOGHETER: Cross the incorrect information or complete with your ideas:

The Sound of Silence, the combination of words so different gives a good idea of
(incommunicability-communicability) among people.

Hello darkness, my old friend

I’ve come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

What does “creeping” mean?

The singer seems to realize what we are in essence :( crowded- lonely ) people, living in the
(darkness- light ).
In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
‘Neath the halo of a streetlamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence

What does “ stabbed “ mean? And “split”??What do you imagine with this description?

In this stanza the poet describes his dreams, which are (quiet – uneasy), where he seems to be
alone, walking in a ( dark – lighted ) world, for him a world of nothingness. For him, It is dark,
cold and wet, and he “ I turned my collar to the cold and damp”. It means … Suddenly the “neon
light” hit his eyes, meaning that something………………………………

The neon expresses the idea of cold (modernity- antiquity), and it is the symbol of the present
(industrial- unindustrial ) society, which has replaced the traditional warmth of the fireplace,
full of communion and togetherness, with the impersonality of (natural- artificial ) light.

And in the naked light I saw

Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
No one dare
Disturb the sound of silence

What do the verbs Share and dare mean?

Now the sharp light allows him to see people that he can see people who can talk but
( can- can´t ) communicate and people that ( can- can´t ) hear but ( can- can´t ) listen.

Which is the difference between hear and listen?

In his opinion some of them are even writing songs that nobody that will ever ( sing- listen ).
Apparently in this world people ( manage -fail ) to communicate.

The light reveals a ( few - multitude ) of people, which represents humanity as a whole. They are
not acting normally in his eyes: their actions are ( full- void ) of significance, they seem
( alienated- sensible ).
No one dares to disturb the sound of silence, means that nobody has the courage or the strength
to ‘rock the boat’ by (questioning- accepting) the status quo. Silence is thus characterized not as
something ( negative- positive) and peaceful, but as an (friend- enemy ) that must be fought.
For him, not only we are lonely when we are alone, but we are also alone even when we are
surrounded by other ………….

“Fools” said I, “You do not know

Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you”
But my words like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the wells of silence.

What does the word “ wells “ mean?

The narrator calls them fool, because silence grows like ……………. He asks them to hear his
……………….and to hold his ………………. He tries to warn the people in his dream, he invites them
to try to (accept-rebel) against the system, but they just turn their heads and look the other
way.

It’s just easier to swim ( against – with) the tide than ………………… ( with –
against ) the current.
What do you think about it ?

And the people bowed and prayed

To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said “The words of the prophets
Are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls
And whispered in the sounds of silence”

The final stanza contains a ( slight - fierce ) attack against (traditional way of living -modern
consumerism). The people idolize the neon sign they themselves have created, worshiping it as
a god and, for me, this god is ………………….. The author means to show how modern men have
converted to a new religion, and the prophet of the new god is obviously the advertising
industry, which covers up every corner of the cities, while ads and commercials are whispered in
the sound of silence and are the only audible noise, forcing people into buying ……………. they do
not really …………….
To sum up, the key message of The Sound of Silence is that we (always- never) have to stay quiet
and we should not be afraid of (speaking out- keeping in silence), both in our personal and our
social life.

Do you like this image? What´s your opinion about it?