1 / 11

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

“To His Excellency, General Washington” & “An Hymn to the Evening”. By Phillis Wheatley. Objectives:. To develop vocabulary and word identification skills To use a variety of reading strategies to comprehend literature

iden
Download Presentation

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

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. “To His Excellency, General Washington”&“An Hymn to the Evening” By Phillis Wheatley

  2. Objectives: • 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

  3. Background for Understanding: • 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

  4. Literary Focus • Personification • 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.

  5. Reading Strategy • Clarify • To give a more specific meaning • Example • The rain in Spain falls mainly upon the plane. • When it rains in Spain, it usually rains in the low-lying flat areas. • Let’s go halves on a baby • Let’s have a child

  6. Vocabulary • Celestial – adj. • Of the heavens • Refulgent – adj. • Radiant; shining • Propitious – adj. • Favorably inclined or disposed • Refluent – adj. • Flowing back • Pensive – adj. • Thinking deeply or seriously • Placid – adj. • Tranquil; calm; quiet • Scepter – n. • A rod or staff held by rulers as a symbol of sovereignty

  7. Grammar & Style • Subject /Verb Agreement • 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) http://www.englishpage.com/grammar/Subject_Verb_Agreement/Exercises/

  8. To His Excellency General Washington: Links • http://www.jmu.edu/madison/center/main_pages/madison_archives/era/african/free/wheatley/poems/wash.htm • http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-georgewashington/

  9. An Hymn to the Evening

  10. Review: “To His Excellency…” • 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

  11. Review: “An Hymn to…” • 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

More Related