Day 2: Caribbean Poetry

1. Day 2: Caribbean Poetry English II: World Literature

2. Warm-Up Read closely the end of the poem we analyzed yesterday “The Sea is History.” On your own warm-up paper, annotate the ending of the poem and answer the following question: Using literary techniques such as imagery, repetition, and metaphor, how does the poet convey his attitude toward “Emancipation” and “History”? Then came the white sisters clapping to the waves’ progress, and that was the Emancipation— jubilation, O jubilation— vanishing swiftly as the sea’s lace dries in the sun, but that was not History, that was only faith, and then each rock broke into its own nation; then came the synod[1] of flies, then came the secretarial heron, then came the bullfrog bellowing for a vote, fireflies with bright ideas and bats like jetting ambassadors and the mantis, like khaki police, and the furred caterpillars of judges examining each case closely, and then in the dark ears of ferns and in the salt chuckle of rocks with their sea pools, there was the sound like a rumour without any echo of History, really beginning. [1] a meeting of church leaders

3. Agenda • Warm-up • Literary Terms Review • Caribbean History: Part 2 • Read, analyze, discuss poems • Exit ticket • HW: Prepare seminar questions for seminar discussion tomorrow!

4. Literary Terms: ReviewDirections: Record the following notes on your “Literary Terms Dictionary” handout. Literary Term Definition Example 1. repetition the deliberate use of any element of language more than once 2. alliteration the repetition of initial consonant sounds 3. rhyme the repetition of sounds in 2 or more words that appear close to each other in a poem

5. Literary Terms: Review Literary Term Definition Example 4. rhythm The varying speed, loudness, pitch, elevation intensity, and expressiveness of speech, esp. in poetry. 5. tone the writer or speaker’s attitude toward a subject; good writers often use MULTIPLE tones at once!

6. Caribbean History: Review From Yesterday: • Pre-Columbus • 1492 • the transatlantic slave trade • The Middle Passage

7. Slave Trade from Africa to the Americas: 1650-1860

8. Slavery: Daily Life • often worked on plantations (sugar, coffee, livestock, among others), house servants, cooks, and so forth • most profitable crops (sugar) were also the deadliest • sugar plantations most dangerous places to be slaves • heavy manual labor done by work gangs • many slaves died of: • disease • overwork • malnourishment “American planters would exhaust the slaves’ lives as productive capacity, grinding them into sugar, coffee, and other crops for export, primarily to Europe, where they would indeed be consumed--but only if they could survive their initial adjustment to slave society. For all its economic success as an outpost of empire, Jamaica routinely destroyed its black people” --Vince Brown, The Reaper’s Garden

9. Jamaica Sugar Plantation, 1909

10. Slavery: Daily Life, cont. • famines, epidemics, and hurricanes were frequent • High death rates contributed to “success” of slave trade -- there was a constant demand for more slaves • Society driven and sustained by death • importance of funerals • “death” industry • legacy & inheritance • social disruption

11. Contemplating Effects of Slavery • loss of “home,” roots (diaspora) • disintegration and redefinition of family structure • Families often divided on to separate plantations • culture of death • power dynamics • majority slave population; minority white slaveholder population • How is culture created? Is it African? European? Or something new?

12. End of the Transatlantic slave trade • British Caribbean slavery ends August 1, 1838 • treaties signed with European countries, Caribbean colonies, and African nations/kingdoms • Over 12 million people were removed from Africa and brought to other parts of the world during the slave trade • How has this affected society and the modern world?

13. Exit Ticket On a notecard or scrap piece of paper, answer the following question: What is one question, concern, doubt, or comment you have from our last two days of class? If you have no questions, write ONE thing you have learned about Caribbean history or poetry over the last two class periods!

14. Bibliography • Brown, Vincent. The Reaper’s Garden. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2008. Print. • Dubois, Laurent. Avengers of the New World. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2004. Print. • The AP Vertical Teams Guide for English. New York: College Entrance Examination Board, 2002. Print.