Transcript Piano File

Piano
BY D H LAWRENCE
Objectives
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Literary Terms – sound devices
Introduction – D H Lawrence
“Piano” – summary
“Piano” – themes
“Piano” – analysis of writer’s craft: language
“Piano” – analysis of writer’s craft: voice
“Piano” - analysis of writer’s craft: structure
“Piano” – analysis of writer’s craft: imagery
Conclusion – links to other poems
Don’t forget!
Remember, follow the
instructions in the
yellow box on the top
of the page! Taking
notes is important;
don’t let it go!
Watch out for the following literary
techniques as we read the poem.
Literary Terms – Sound Devices
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Onomatopoeia – words that imitate or suggest the sound that
they stand for e.g. ‘boom’, ‘tingling’
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Alliteration – adjacent or closely connected words that begin
with the same sound of a consonant e.g. ‘pressing the small,
poised feet…’
Literary Terms – Sound Devices
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Assonance – use of the same or similar vowel sounds close
together e.g. ‘With the great black piano appassionato. The
glamour…’
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Consonance - use of the same or similar consonant sounds close
together e.g. or in "all mammals named Sam are clammy".
D H Lawrence
(1885-1930)
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David Herbert Lawrence, novelist, short-story writer, poet and essayist, was
born in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, England, on September 11, 1885. He was
devoted to his mother who died when he was 25.
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“I want to live my life so that my nights are not full of regrets”
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“I cannot cure myself of that most woeful of youth's follies--thinking that those who care about us will
care for the things that mean much to us.”
(Taken from: http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/d-h-Lawrence)
Read the poem
Summary
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What is the poem about?
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SUMMARIZE the poem in bullet points with your partner
Themes – what do we learn about them
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Memory – an adult nostalgically
remembering the past and
regretting its loss.
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Childhood – how a song can
bring you back to a particular
place in your past. It also
emphasises the importance of
safety and security to a child.
Themes – what do we learn about them
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Relationships – the tender and close
relationship between a child and his
mother. It also looks at the relationship
between the poet as a man and him as a
child, and the changes that age has
forced upon him.
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Growing up – involves becoming an
independent adult and dealing with the
loss of loved ones and of your past.
Language
Find examples of the following techniques and their effect
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Repetition of certain phrases emphasises loss, music or youth.
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Sibilance sets the mood at the beginning.
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Onomatopoeia is used to help us imagine the scene.
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Alliteration is used to highlight the intensity of the memory.
Language
Find examples of the following techniques and their effect
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Assonance is shown in the use of flat “a” sounds highlight the
grand nature of the piano and the music.
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Word choices, in particular words connected to the past and
with music.
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A simile is used to highlight the persona’s vulnerability.
Language
Possible examples
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Repetition – ‘weeps’, ‘piano’, ‘singing’, ‘child’
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Sibilance – ‘Softly in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;’
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Onomatopoeia – ‘boom’, ‘tingling’, ‘tinkling’.
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Alliteration – ‘Betrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belong...’
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Assonance – ‘With the great black piano appassionato. The glamour…’
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Word choices – ‘back’, ‘old’, ‘years’, ‘piano’, ‘appassionato’, ‘hymns’
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A simile – ‘I weep like a child…’
Structure
 Structured
in three quatrains with rhymed couplets
throughout the poem
 Lawrence
uses full rhyme (aabb) to add harmony to his
poem, reflecting the harmonious music of the piano.
Structure
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Caesura and enjambment contribute to the pace of the poem.
Enjambment aids the nostalgia as one memory flows into
another like one note leads into another in a song. Caesura is
used in the last stanza to illustrate the passion, grandeur and
wonder of the piano and its music. It still catches the speaker
by surprise all those years later.
Voice
What is the voice in “Piano” and how is it established? Let’s brainstorm
our ideas.
Think about:
Speaker
Tone
Setting
Diction
Imagery
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Lawrence uses various types of imagery. Here are a few
types seen in the poem. With your partner, write down an
example and the effect of each.
1.
ORGANIC
VISUAL
AUDITORY
TACTILE
2.
3.
4.
Conclusion
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Good secondary poems to link it to are:
- Digging
- To My Mother
Read through these poems and discuss with your partner what poem you
might use and why.
They are all available in your folder.
Homework
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Pick the poem you will link to “Piano”
 Write
your 2 paragraphs on this poem and
1 paragraph on another poem of your
choice.
Structure - meter
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Meter – poetry’s rhythm or its pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. It allows the add a
specific rhythm and places specific emphasis on certain words or sounds.
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Syllables in words can be stressed or unstressed. When we speak naturally we don’t think about
this but in poetry it can really effect the sound and pace of a poem.
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Iambic/ iamb
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Trochaic/ trochee
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Anapestic/ anapest
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Dactyllic/dactyl / 
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Spondaic/spondee
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Pyrrhic
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today, balloon
happy, soda
obvious, contradict
cigarette, maniac
/ / Downtown, manmade
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of the