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“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

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

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  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

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