Transcript “To His Excellency, General Washington” & “An Hymn to the Evening”

“To His Excellency, General
Washington”
&
“An Hymn to the Evening”
By Phillis Wheatley
Objectives:
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To develop vocabulary and word identification skills
To use a variety of reading strategies to comprehend
literature
To increase knowledge of other cultures and to connect
common elements across cultures
To express and support responses to the texts
To analyze literary elements
To plan, prepare, organize, and present literary
interpretations
To increase knowledge of the rules of grammar and
usage
Background for Understanding:
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Brought to America as a slave
from West Africa at age 8
Purchased by John Wheatley in
1761
Taught to read and write
Gained fame at an early age as
a poet
First published abroad
Wrote a poem to Gen.
Washington during the
Revolutionary War
Freed in 1773
Two children died in infancy
Husband jailed for debt
Died at the age of 30
Literary Focus
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Personification
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Giving human characteristics or attributes to
things or objects that are not human
Example
Your shoes are talking.
 The wind whistled a beautiful tune through the
trees.
 The earth wept at the destruction of her rain
forest.
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Reading Strategy
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Clarify
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To give a more specific meaning
Example
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The rain in Spain falls mainly upon the plane.
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When it rains in Spain, it usually rains in the low-lying
flat areas.
Let’s go halves on a baby
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Let’s have a child
Vocabulary
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Celestial – adj.
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Refulgent – adj.
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Thinking deeply or seriously
Placid – adj.
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Flowing back
Pensive – adj.
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Favorably inclined or disposed
Refluent – adj.
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Radiant; shining
Propitious – adj.
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Of the heavens
Tranquil; calm; quiet
Scepter – n.
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A rod or staff held by rulers as a symbol of sovereignty
Grammar & Style
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Subject /Verb Agreement
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Verbs become either singular or plural in
accordance with their subject
Singular subjects take singular verbs; plural
subjects take plural verbs
Examples:
Tom runs every day. (singular)
 They run every day. (plural)
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http://www.englishpage.com/grammar/Subject_Verb_Agreement/Exercises/
To His Excellency General Washington: Links
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http://www.jmu.edu/madison/center/main_pages/madis
on_archives/era/african/free/wheatley/poems/wash.htm
http://www.bookrags.com/studyguidegeorgewashington/
An Hymn to the Evening
Soon as the sun forsook the eastern main
The pealing thunder shook the heav'nly plain;
Majestic grandeur! From the zephyr's wing,
Exhales the incense of the blooming spring.
Soft purl the streams, the birds renew their notes,
And through the air their mingled music floats.
Through all the heav'ns what beauteous dies are spread!
But the west glories in the deepest red:
So may our breasts with ev'ry virtue glow,
The living temples of our God below!
Fill'd with the praise of him who gives the light,
And draws the sable curtains of the night,
Let placid slumbers sooth each weary mind,
At morn to wake more heav'nly, more refin'd;
So shall the labours of the day begin
More pure, more guarded from the snares of sin.
Night's leaden sceptre seals my drowsy eyes,
Then cease, my song, till fair Aurora rise.
Review: “To His Excellency…”
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Columbia is filled with anxiety because of the
war
Great Britain is depicted as foolish and greedy
America is protected by God because they are
fighting for a just cause
George Washington is described as “the Great
Chief”
Wheatley uses personification to help the reader
recognize the beauty and strength of America
Review: “An Hymn to…”
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God brings both the light and the
darkness
Night time is a time for renewal
Wheatley use images from nature in her
descriptions
Poem is synonymous to a prayer