Transcript The Cod Head 1A

The Cod Head
Thesis:
William Carlos Williams uses
imagist techniques to depict the
cod head and its surroundings by
manipulating the poem structure
and musicality of the words.
Opening Activity! Whoo!
After reading the poem The Cod Head
complete a drawing for 4-7 of the
stanzas in the poem on a piece of
paper that help represent that
stanza.
You have 5-5 min! GO!
Sense: Meaning & Language
Diction:
Miscellaneous: Of various types.
Firmament: The heavens or the sky.
Oars: A pole with a flat blade, used to row or steer a boat in water.
Phosporescent: Emission of light without burning.
Flaccid: (Part of the body) Soft hanging loosely.
Midges: Flies often seen in swarms near water of marshy areas, (Transmit
disease).
Fathom: A unit of length equal to 6 ft., used to reference depth of water.
Mottle: Mark with spots or smears of color.
Amorphous: Without a clearly defined shape or form.
Vitreous: Like grass in appearance or physical properties.
Scudding: More fast in a straight line.
Lulling: Calm or send to sleep typically with soothing sounds or movements.
Sense: Meaning & Language
Mood: Peaceful, then disrupted by the depiction of
the dead fish.
Tone: Focused, carefully chosen words to describe
the scenery.
Motif: The three lined stanzas, each creating a
separate image of what the poet observes.
Point of View: First Person.
Repetition: Repetition of the word fathom.
Theme: To describe what he sees to the audience in
many ways at once using a poem.
Sense: Meaning & Language
-William uses some intricate vocabulary throughout
this poem, this causes the reader confusion because
of minimal understanding.
-He was attempting to recreate the feelings and the
observations he had when observing the scenery to
give the reader an experience similar to his.
-The snapshots each stanza creates further the readers
comprehension of what the poet was seeing, that
makes this a first person point of view.
-The importance of the repeated word fathom is linked
to the description of scenery.
Stanzas:1
3
7
9
Senses: Imagery & Symbols
 Purpose: Gives the reader visual details
to help imagine the setting were the
poem takes place.
 More description of scenery, exemplifies
how disease can spread uncontrollably
by midges. Can appeal to the tactile
sense.
 Compares the eyes to discs with moons.
Stanzas:1
3
7
9
Senses: Imagery & Symbols
Uses “red stars” to help the reader
understand how painful the constant falling
could've been. It adds visual details and
partly a sense of comic relief (think of
cartoons).
Visual detail described through the entire
poem to complete the setting. This is where
the author is observing the fish. “body
through which-…head between two green
stones”.
Senses: Imagery & Symbols
Style: Poetry Techniques
Metaphor:
“moons in whose
Eyes of flies
discs sometimes a red cross
Disease in them.
lives–”
This part is the only metaphor in the whole poem which increases its importance.
Simile: Our interpretation for the poets lack of similes is to keep the
depiction of each scene as ______(can’t think of the word that fits
here) as possible.
Stream of Consciousness:
Williams is sitting at the lake
and writing about everything he is seeing
Irony: “Now a lulling lift” (Line 25) Normally, the verb “lulling” is
peaceful, but in this case it is used to describe a wave that is carrying
a dead fish
Personification: Verbs are used to make the waves seem like
their actions are well thought out and intentional.
Structure: Form, Organization & Pattern
• Dashes create rhythm similar to
waves
• Each stanza has one longer line,
creating a wave pattern
• Repetition of the color red and the
word “fathom”
• Each stanza has three lines
• Imagery of the lake is repeated and
built upon, to create a detailed
image of the lake for the audience
Structure
• Structural elements affect the way the poem is read,
because the dashes manipulate the reader’s voice so
that the rhythm of the sound of the lake’s waves is
mimicked. The structure adds more depth to the
imagery of the lake that Williams is describing.
• The form effectively communicates the content of the
poem because Williams shows that he is actually
talking about a lake in his poem, by structurally writing
his poem so that it depicts waves of the lake. If the lake
was a metaphor for something else, Williams most
likely would not have made the poem structurally
mimic a lake.
Sound: Musicality & Auditory Techniques
• General structure: 10 stanzas, 3 lines each, wave-like
pattern, slant rythm
» Uses ---to pause and show emphasis in all stanzas
• Alliteration: “strands…stems” “fishes...feet” “but…by”
“small scudding” “lulling lift”
• Assonance : “whip...ships” “moons in whose”
• Rhyme: “lifting falling”
• Repetition: “four fathom…three fathom”
“fishes…fish…cod”
• Tone: detailed, serious, concentrated
Connection to another Poem
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Similar to The Eyeglasses and Spring and All
The eyeglasses is also objective; focuses on one thing.
The Cod Head vs. The Eyeglasses
Spring and All talks about nature as well. A hospital is mentioned
similar to how a red cross is referenced.
Conclusion
• Overall, Williams does use imagist patterns to depict
The Cod Head by manipulating poem structure and
musicality of the words. Again, the images are used
to represent different symbols that pertain to the
setting. This manipulation can also be identified
through the mimicking of the lake’s waves and the
dashes that noticeably change the poem’s rhythm.