Theme - a truth about life
Theme is created and communicated by the author to the intended audience. It is a believe the author has about a particular topic (abstract noun).
Step 1: Read the title. (Contemplate the possible meaning of the title and determine the structure of the text <short story, article, poem, etc.>)
Step 2: Read the ?s and prompts.
Step 3: Review the vocabulary.
sound device - (noun) a literary device used by the author to appeal to the sense of hearing ie. alliteration, rhyme, rhythm, repetition etc.
As we listened to different vignettes we will make note of any sound devices we hear.
Sound Devices / Repetition
alliteration (n.) the repetition of beginning consonant sounds in words listed closely together
Examples:
“… with only one mother who is tired all the time from buttoning and bottling and babying, and who cries every day….” (There Was an Old Woman” 29).
“With my porch and my pillow, my pretty purple petunias” (“A House of My Own” 108).
Sound is just as much a part of communicating clearly as the perfect word choice.
assonance (n.) the repetition of vowel sounds in words listed closely together
Examples:
“Keep, keep, keep, trees say when I sleep. They teach. …keep keeping …trees …street …concrete …reach … be and be” (“Four Skinny Trees” 75).
assonance
in writing, the repetition of the sound of a vowel or diphthong in non-rhyming stressed syllables near enough to each other for the echo to be discernible (e.g., penitence, reticence )
rhyme (n.) the repetition of similar sounds in two or more words, usually found in the final syllable of a line of poetry
Examples:
“When there is nothing left to look at on this street. Four who grew despite concrete” (“Four Skinny Trees” 75).
“Only a house quiet as snow, a space for myself to go…” (“A House of My Own” 108).
anaphora (n.) the repetition of the first word or few words at the start of successive sentences, clauses, or phrases in a row
Examples:
“Four skinny trees with skinny necks and pointy elbows like mine. Four who do not belong here but are here. Four raggedy excuses planted by the city” (“Four Skinny Trees” 74)
“Not a flat. Not an apartment in back. Not a man’s house. Not a daddy’s” (“A House of My Own” 108)
“One day I will pack my bags of books and paper. One day I will say goodbye to Mango. I am too strong for her to keep me here forever. One day I will go away” (“Mango Says Goodbye Sometimes” 110).
asyndeton (n.) when listing words, the coordinating conjunction (FAN BOYS) is purposely left out for an effect
Examples:
“I had to look to where she pointed – the third floor, paint peeling, wooden bars Papa had nailed on the windows…” (“The House on Mango Street” 5).
“Down, down Mango Street we go. Rachel, Lucy, me” (“Our Good Day” 16).
“Marin…. Is waiting for a car to stop, a star to fall, someone to change her life” (“Marin” 27).
“Lucy, Rachel, me tee-tottering like so” (“The Family of Little Feet” 40).
polysyndeton (n.) when listing words, the coordinating conjunction (FAN BOYS) is purposely used between every word for an effect.
Examples:
“Esperanza as Lisandra or Maritza or Zeze the X” (“My Name” 11).
“… with only one mother who is tired all the time from buttoning and bottling and babying, and who cries every day….” ("There Was an Old Woman she Had so Many Children She Didn't Know What to Do” 29).
“The kids bend trees and bounce between cars and dangle upside down from knees and almost break like fancy museum vases….” ("There Was an Old Woman she Had so Many Children She Didn't Know What to Do”29).
“I hold and hold and hold him” (“Papa Who Wakes” 57).
“…when all you wanted, all you wanted, Sally, was to love and to love and to love and to love, no one could call that crazy” (“Sally” 83).
figurative language - (noun) Language which uses figures of speech; for example, metaphor, simile, alliteration. Figurative Language must be distinguished from literal language. Figurative is the language that has to be figured out.
1) "He hared down the street."
-or-
2) "He ran quickly down the street."
The first one must be figured out by referencing the tortoise and the hare story and knowing the hare moves quickly. The second says it directly or literally.
vignette - (noun) A small ornamental design on a blank page in a book, especially at the beginning or end of a chapter. Today it may also be applied to a sketch or short composition which shows considerable skill.
Why is some of the definition crossed out?
We don't need this information at this time.
"My Name" by Sandra Cisneros is an example of a vignette.
Comparisons/Contrasts
simile - a comparison of two unlike things using "like" or "as"
Examples:
"She is always sad like a house on fire - always something wrong" ("Minerva" 84)
"...they'd all droop like tulips in a glass" ("Four Skinny Trees" 74-75).
"The taxi door opened like a waiter's arm" (No Speak English" 76).
metaphor - a comparison of two unlike things without using "like" or "as". Often the writer will just rename one object as something else, never naming the first half of the comparison.
Examples:
"...so she can wake up early with the tortilla star, the one that appears early just in time to rise..." ("Alicia Who Sees Mice" 31). tortilla star = sun
"We must be Christmas" (The Family of Little Feet" 40)
"Four raggedy excuses planted by the city" ("Four Skinny Trees" 74). trees being called raggedy excuses.
personification - a comparison between an inanimate object and a human being. This is created by giving human like qualities (actions, physical features, emotions) to the inanimate thing.
Examples:
"Their strength is secret. They send ferocious roots beneath the ground. They grow up and they grown down and grab the earth between their hairy toes and bite the sky with violent teeth and never quit their anger. This is how they keep" ("Four Skinny Trees" 74)
hyperbole - the use of exaggeration to make a point. A hyperbole can often come in the form of a comparison, such as a simile or metaphor.
Examples:
"Those who don't know any better come into our neighborhood scared. They think we're dangerous. They think we will attack them with shiny knives. They are stupid people who are lost and got here by mistake. ("Those Who Don't" 28). Esperanza cannot know whether or not all the people who drive through her neighborhood are indeed afraid. The hyperbole emphasized the divide between the rich and the poor.
symbolism - a concrete object used to represent an abstract idea, giving the object more significance and emphasizing the idea. Sometimes the symbol can be an action, an event or a word spoken by someone.
Examples:
"Alicia, who inherited her mama's rolling pin and sleepiness, is young and smart..." ("Alicia Who Sees Mice" 31) rolling pin=stereotypical female roles in the home.
allusion - a reference to a familiar person, place, thing or idea of historical, cultural, literary or political significance. This reference creates a comparison (like a simile or metaphor).
Examples: “Today we are Cinderella because our feet fit exactly, and we laugh at Rachel’s one foot with a girt’s grey sock and a lady’s high heel” (“The Family of Little Feet” 40). Allusion to literature.
“Rafaela leans out the window and leans on her elbow and dreams her hair is like Rapunzel’s. …and we send it up to her in a paper shopping bag she lets down with clothesline” (“Rafaela” 79-80) Allusion to literature.
“Sally, who taught you to paint your eyes like Cleopatra?” (“Sally” 81). Allusion to ancient history.
“… but I have decided not to grow up tame like the others who lay their necks on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain” (“Beautiful and Cruel” 88). Allusion to culture.
antithesis - using two opposite ideas in the same sentence to achieve a contrasting effect and emphasize a point
Examples:
“… and we laugh at Rachel’s one foot with a girl’s grey sock and a lady’s high heel” (The Family of Little Feet” 40). The antithesis is the contrast between the child’s foot and the grown up’s shoe.
“Her head thrown back like a thirsty lady. My aunt the swimmer” (“Born Bad” 58).
“Her luck is unlucky” (Minerva 84).
“People who live on hills sleep so close to the stars they forget those of us who live too much on earth” (“Bums in the Attic”86).
“She has lived in this city her whole life. She can speak two languages. She can sing an opera. She knows how to fix a T.V. But she doesn’t know which subway train to take to get downtown” (“A Smart Cookie” 90). The antithesis is the contrast between a woman who has so many talents, but who can’t get around the very city she’s lived in her whole life.
oxymoron - a technique in which two words with opposite meanings are joined to create an effect. This is usually created by putting an adjective before a noun.
Examples:
“pancake dinner” (“Minerva” 84).
“quiet war” (“Beautiful and Cruel” 89)
Sentence Structure
PURPOSEFUL FRAGMENTS - Writers will sometimes place a fragment in order to emphasis a point.
Examples:
“I knew then I had to have a house. A real house. One I could point to” (“The House on Mango Street” 5). The fragment emphasizes that in Esperanza’s mind there is a difference between the houses she has lived / is living in and the house she wants.
“The boys in their universe and we in ours. My brothers for example. They’ve got plenty to say to me and Nenny inside the house” (“Boys and Girls” 8). The fragment emphasizes the separate worlds of boys and girls even exists among siblings.
“Her head thrown back like a thirsty lady. My aunt the swimmer” (“Born Bad” 58). The fragment emphasizes the contrast with the previous sentence.
The beginning of many plot lines is called the Exposition. This typically contains an introduction of the main characters, the setting, and the main conflict.
Some goals to better understand literature are to constantly explore three levels of connection.
text to self
text to text
text to world
Speech
Thoughts
Effect on others
Actions
Looks
We can tell more about a character or person by stealing information from the text in these 5 specific areas.
Identifying the Elements of Fiction for "The Lady, or the Tiger?"
TS (Topic Sentence)
CT (Context)
CD (Concrete Detail)
CM (Commentary)
CD (Concrete Detail)
CM (Commentary)
CL (Closing)
The topic sentence is only one sentence and requires three items:
Practice Prompt: Based on your Sept. Independent Reading Book, describe the initial setting.
Practice BAD TS: Based on The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, there was a setting.
Practice writing the TS, CT, CD and CM can be seen on this Slides presentation.
4. The first line of the email should state the purpose.
5. All languages, days of the week and months of the year should be capitalized.
6. When you quote someone, use quotation marks.
7. Hashtags have no spaces.
Do not capitalize mom in the following sentence:
I. Adjectives Shifted Out of Order:
Many underdeveloped writers overload their descriptions with too many adjectives in sentences like, “The large, red-eyed, angry bull moose charged at the intruder.”
A more mature writer, when she or he wishes to stack adjectives, avoids a three in-a-row string by using a technique called shifting adjectives out of order.
Leaving one adjective in its original place, a mature writer might create this sentence: "The large bull moose, red-eyed and angry, charged at the intruder."
From Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles: “And then suddenly, in the very dead of night, there came a sound to my ears, clear, resonant, and unmistakable.” – Placed in their ordinary position, these three adjectives would have made the sentence sound childish.
II. Prepositional Phrases at the Start:
Many immature writers compose monotonous sentences that frequently begin with the subject and end with the predicate.
A more mature writer will varied said sentence structure (syntax) by beginning some sentences with a prepositional phrase that builds the setting from the jump.
Original Sentence
The characters in the book represented subsets of humans in society: Greasers and Socs.
Revised Sentence
In the book, the characters represented subsets of humans in society: Greasers and Socs.
*Notice the comma that is required when making this revision!
III. Participles/Participial Phrases: an –ing form of a verb, acting like an adjective, tagged onto the beginning or end of a sentence or interrupting the main subject and verb.
Original Sentence
The diamond-scaled snakes attacked their prey.
Revised Sentence
Hissing, slithering, and coiling, the diamond-scaled snakes attacked their prey.
• a series of single participles adds more detail and suggests rapid movement
• participial phrases add more detail at a slower but intense pace