DoctorSummerMonkey49
1) Pick a short passage (maximum 10-11 lines) from the poem below….
1) Pick a short passage (maximum 10-11 lines) from the poem below. Make sure that you do not cut off the passage mid-sentence just because you have reached the maximum of number of lines. It is fine to stop in the middle of the line if that is where the sentence ends. Be careful, as sometimes sentences can span more than one stanza.
The Little Black Boy
BY WILLIAM BLAKE
My mother bore me in the southern wild,
And I am black, but O! my soul is white;
White as an angel is the English child:
But I am black as if bereav’d of light.
My mother taught me underneath a tree
And sitting down before the heat of day,
She took me on her lap and kissed me,
And pointing to the east began to say.
Look on the rising sun: there God does live
And gives his light, and gives his heat away.
And flowers and trees and beasts and men receive
Comfort in morning joy in the noonday.
And we are put on earth a little space,
That we may learn to bear the beams of love,
And these black bodies and this sun-burnt face
Is but a cloud, and like a shady grove.
For when our souls have learn’d the heat to bear
The cloud will vanish we shall hear his voice.
Saying: come out from the grove my love & care,
And round my golden tent like lambs rejoice.
Thus did my mother say and kissed me,
And thus I say to little English boy.
When I from black and he from white cloud free,
And round the tent of God like lambs we joy:
Ill shade him from the heat till he can bear,
To lean in joy upon our fathers knee.
And then I’ll stand and stroke his silver hair,
And be like him and he will then love me.
2) Type up your chosen passage exactly as it appears in text provided above. The passage should be single-spaced.
3) Underline or highlight the keywords in your chosen passage. Most likely, the emphasized words will be nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, though in some cases pronouns (I, you, s/he) or conjunctions (and, or, but, so) may be important. These do not have to be unfamiliar or difficult words; sometimes even seemingly simple words can prove complex and important.
4) Access the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). Using the search function, look up all the keywords you have
highlighted and read through the full dictionary entry for each, taking notes as you go. If you do not immediately find an entry for a word, you may need to change the number and/or tense. For example, for a plural noun, try entering the word in singular. For a conjugated verb, try entering the infinitive.
5) Go back to your passage and reread it with your OED research in mind. Out of all the words you have explored, choose five keywords that seem especially significant in light of your findings. These may be words that cluster around a theme or imagery or unconventional usage or wordplay. Or they may be all one part of speech (e.g. five verbs, or five adjectives). In short, they should ideally have something in common, something that links them.
Highlight these five words so that they stand out visually from the other keywords (e.g. use a different colour, or circle the words).
6) Below your passage, for each of your five keywords, write down the findings that added something new to your initial understanding of the word. Is there a definition that you did not know about but that now seems relevant and illuminating? Did the word’s etymology reveal new information? Think of this as a kind of analytical glossary. Do not simply cut and paste the OED entries; some are quite long and may include definitions that are not relevant to your chosen passage. Do summarize and synthesize your findings, reflecting your careful reading of each dictionary entry. What did you initially think the word meant? How did the OED advance your understanding? If you choose to use specific phrases taken verbatim from the OED entry, those must appear in quotation marks.
Do use the Etymology section in the OED entry. You might need to toggle “Show more” to see it in full. Keep in mind that the etymology (linguistic evolution or derivation) of a particular word and/or of its connotations may add layers of meaning that will need to be reflected in your glossary. Do make sure the definition(s) you use were current at the time of the poem’s writing and make(s) sense in the context of the passage. Just because there is an additional definition does not necessarily mean that the connotation is relevant in context.
7) Go back to your chosen passage or stanza with your linguistic research in mind. Write one short response (five hundreds words) that offers a close reading of your chosen passage, showing how the linguistic work you have done influences your understanding of the significance of the passage and its function in the poem as a whole. Your response should be structured as an argument with a thesis statement and should draw on specific details both from your chosen passage and from your OED findings.
You might find some or all of the following questions helpful as a starting point for brainstorming your response:
a. What drew you to your chosen passage or stanza? Were there particular words or phrases that intrigued you from the start? If so, why?
b. How did your understanding of the passage or stanza change or shift as a result of the definitions and connotations you discovered? If so, how? Have you uncovered any puns, wordplay, unorthodox usages, or allusions?
c. If you have some experience analyzing poetry, consider including your observations about form, rhythm, tone, or literary devices to help support your argument. Does the form of the poem help illuminate the content?
d. How would you describe the function and significance of your chosen passage or stanza? (If your chosen lines are the whole poem, what do you see as the main point of the poem?) Did your work with the OED change, complicate, and/or deepen that interpretation?
These prompts are intended only as a starting point, not as an outline for your response. You are responsible for developing a guiding thesis statement and for structuring your argument.
