Blog Task: Abraham Lincoln Speech

The following speech by Abraham Lincoln is famous for its brevity and effect. The speech was delivered from the back of a train as Lincoln was about to leave his home town to take up the presidency in Washington, DC in 1861. Many people have noticed the rhetoric (the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the exploitation of figures of speech and other compositional techniques) employed in the speech including ANTITHESIS (two opposites are introduced in the same sentence, for contrasting effect), PARALLEL STRUCTURE (use of the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance, using coordinating conjunctions such as “and” or “or”), and ANAPHORA (repetition of a sequence of words at the beginning of clauses). 

Read the speech  and consider the purposeful use of syntax (the way in which words are put together). Why would Lincoln have made the choices he did? Use PEE structure in your answer.

“My friends: No one, not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the kindness of these people, I owe everything. Here I have lived a quarter of  a century, and have passed from a young to an old man. Here my children have been born, and one is buried. I now leave, not knowing when or whether ever I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington. Without the assistance of that Divine Being who ever attended him, I canot succeed. With that assistance, I cannot fail. Trusting in Him who can go with me, and remain with you, and be everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell.”

This is a goodbye speech from Abraham Lincoln, so the literary devices should be directed to create an emotional scene. Lincoln is trying to make the point that he is loyal to his town by showing feelings of sadness, this is proved when he repeats the word "Here".

Preparing Paper 1: Idioms and Ambiguity

Meaning can often be complicated through the use of metaphors, idioms, or simply through ambiguous relationships between words. What are the actual meanings of the first two idioms below? What are the possible meanings of the next ambiguous sentences?

• Bite your tongue: This is an expression said to someone who has just stated an unpleasant supposition that unfortunately maybe true.
• Pull my leg: When you say, "Are you pulling my leg?", it means "Are you kidding with me?"
• He is my English teacher: The problem here is that you can't tell if the persons that says this is saying that his teacher is from England or if he is a teacher of English.
• I saw the person with a telescope: Here there is another ambiguity where you don't know if the person had a telescope, or if he saw the person using a telescope.
• She doesn’t like short men or women: Here the ambiguity is that you don't know if the adjective short is used for men and women, or just for men.

Preparing Paper 1: Truth Assumptions

The use of  certain verbs can imply the actual or probable status of events in a statement. In the sentence “I know the dog died”, the verb “know” is FACTIVE as it assigns the death of the dog as true. In “I believe the dog died”, the verb “believe” is NON-FACTIVE as the clausal object (the dog died) may not be a true fact.

Are the following statements factive or non-factive?

• I thought that today was your birthday.                                                                          (Non Factive)
• I forgot that today was your birthday.                                                                                    (Factive)
• The teacher scolded me for not studying hard enough.                                                         (Factive)
• The teacher acknowledged that I hadn’t really studied.                                                        (Factive)
• The teacher realized the student had cheated.                                                                     (Factive)
• The teacher assumed that the student had cheated.                                                      (Non Factive)

Register: Classroom task

How would you describe the register of the following statements?

• “Honoured guests, members of the board, Superintendent Johnson, and most importantly, graduates of the class of 2012, it is an honour to speak to you on this ocassion.” (Formal Register)
• “While I was pleasantly surprised by the menu selections for dinner service, I was disheartened by the lukewarm eggs at breakfast.” (Consultative)
• “Yeah, right” (Casual)
• “I doubt it” (Consultative)
• “I’m tired of your rubbish” (Intimate)
• “I’m tired” (Casual)

Paper 2 Essay

How can a literary text's style and structure reflect the context in which it was written?

The style and structure that the author uses, is how he decides to present the text to make an effect on the reader. The style is the most important part, because it is the only thing that distinguish the author's writing from any other, so, in that case, the style is the feature of writing that demonstrates the most the context of production. A book's plot, which is part of the structure, may also show the roots of the author or his own experiences.

The book "To Kill a Mockingbird", written by Nelle Harper Lee, is an argument for equality, justice and against racism, and it narrates the life in the author's town during the years of the Great Depression. Harper Lee was born in 1926, so, the plot of the book, is very related with the author's childhood. The Narrator of the book is a child, and the Great Depression was a part of the author's childhood, so the narrator and the author are very related with each other, however, the author does not try to limit the child's vocabulary or power of expression, because writing with a childish view or voice to argue for justice, equality and against racism is very hard.

In the book "Fatelessness", written by Imre Kertész, is an autobiographical novel, so the style and structure of the book is easy to relate with the context of production. Just like the author's life, the main character of the book is affected by the Holocaust as a child, making the plot of the novel a product from Kertész own experiences.

To conclude, I think that the structure and style that a writer uses in a book is a reflection of his own personality, experiences, and ideas. I realized that after linking the characters and the plots of different books with their author's past, showing incredible coincidences.

Lady of Shalott Analysis

Prezi: http://prezi.com/mb5y8w3zarcu/the-lady-of-shalott/

Complete Poem:

       PART I

On either side the river lie 

Long fields of barley and of rye, That clothe the wold and meet the sky;
And thro’ the field the road runs by
       To many-tower’d Camelot;
And up and down the people go,
Gazing where the lilies blow
Round an island there below,
       The island of Shalott.

Willows whiten, aspens quiver,
Little breezes dusk and shiver
Thro’ the wave that runs for ever
By the island in the river
       Flowing down to Camelot.
Four gray walls, and four gray towers,
Overlook a space of flowers,
And the silent isle imbowers
       The Lady of Shalott.

By the margin, willow veil’d,
Slide the heavy barges trail’d
By slow horses; and unhail’d
The shallop flitteth silken-sail’d
       Skimming down to Camelot:
But who hath seen her wave her hand?
Or at the casement seen her stand?
Or is she known in all the land,
       The Lady of Shalott?

Only reapers, reaping early
In among the bearded barley,
Hear a song that echoes cheerly
From the river winding clearly,
       Down to tower’d Camelot:
And by the moon the reaper weary,
Piling sheaves in uplands airy,
Listening, whispers “ ’Tis the fairy
       Lady of Shalott.”

   PART II

There she weaves by night and day
A magic web with colours gay.
She has heard a whisper say,
A curse is on her if she stay
       To look down to Camelot.
She knows not what the curse may be,
And so she weaveth steadily,
And little other care hath she,
       The Lady of Shalott.

And moving thro’ a mirror clear
That hangs before her all the year,
Shadows of the world appear.
There she sees the highway near
       Winding down to Camelot:
There the river eddy whirls,
And there the surly village-churls,
And the red cloaks of market girls,
       Pass onward from Shalott.

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad,
An abbot on an ambling pad,
Sometimes a curly shepherd-lad,
Or long-hair’d page in crimson clad,
       Goes by to tower’d Camelot;
And sometimes thro’ the mirror blue
The knights come riding two and two:
She hath no loyal knight and true,
       The Lady of Shalott.

But in her web she still delights
To weave the mirror’s magic sights,
For often thro’ the silent nights
A funeral, with plumes and lights
       And music, went to Camelot:
Or when the moon was overhead,
Came two young lovers lately wed:
“I am half sick of shadows,” said
       The Lady of Shalott.

       PART III

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves,
He rode between the barley-sheaves,
The sun came dazzling thro’ the leaves,
And flamed upon the brazen greaves
       Of bold Sir Lancelot.
A red-cross knight for ever kneel’d
To a lady in his shield,
That sparkled on the yellow field,
   Beside remote Shalott.

The gemmy bridle glitter’d free,
Like to some branch of stars we see
Hung in the golden Galaxy.
The bridle bells rang merrily
       As he rode down to Camelot:
And from his blazon’d baldric slung
A mighty silver bugle hung,
And as he rode his armour rung,
       Beside remote Shalott.

All in the blue unclouded weather
Thick-jewell’d shone the saddle-leather,
The helmet and the helmet-feather
Burn’d like one burning flame together,
       As he rode down to Camelot.
As often thro’ the purple night,
Below the starry clusters bright,
Some bearded meteor, trailing light,
       Moves over still Shalott.

His broad clear brow in sunlight glow’d;
On burnish’d hooves his war-horse trode;
From underneath his helmet flow’d
His coal-black curls as on he rode,
       As he rode down to Camelot.
From the bank and from the river
He flash’d into the crystal mirror,
“Tirra lirra,” by the river
       Sang Sir Lancelot.

She left the web, she left the loom,
She made three paces thro’ the room,
She saw the water-lily bloom,
She saw the helmet and the plume,
       She look’d down to Camelot.
Out flew the web and floated wide;
The mirror crack’d from side to side;
“The curse is come upon me,” cried
       The Lady of Shalott.

       PART IV

In the stormy east-wind straining,
The pale yellow woods were waning,
The broad stream in his banks complaining,
Heavily the low sky raining
       Over tower’d Camelot;
Down she came and found a boat
Beneath a willow left afloat,
And round about the prow she wrote
       The Lady of Shalott.

And down the river’s dim expanse
Like some bold seër in a trance,
Seeing all his own mischance—
With a glassy countenance
       Did she look to Camelot.
And at the closing of the day
She loosed the chain, and down she lay;
The broad stream bore her far away,
       The Lady of Shalott.

Lying, robed in snowy white
That loosely flew to left and right—
The leaves upon her falling light—
Thro’ the noises of the night
       She floated down to Camelot:
And as the boat-head wound along
The willowy hills and fields among,
They heard her singing her last song,
       The Lady of Shalott.

Heard a carol, mournful, holy,
Chanted loudly, chanted lowly,
Till her blood was frozen slowly,
And her eyes were darken’d wholly,
       Turn’d to tower’d Camelot.
For ere she reach’d upon the tide
The first house by the water-side,
Singing in her song she died,
       The Lady of Shalott.

Under tower and balcony,
By garden-wall and gallery,
A gleaming shape she floated by,
Dead-pale between the houses high,
       Silent into Camelot.
Out upon the wharfs they came,
Knight and burgher, lord and dame,
And round the prow they read her name,
       The Lady of Shalott.

Who is this? and what is here?
And in the lighted palace near
Died the sound of royal cheer;
And they cross’d themselves for fear,
       All the knights at Camelot:
But Lancelot mused a little space;
He said, “She has a lovely face;
God in his mercy lend her grace,
       The Lady of Shalott.”

Form:

The poem is divided into four numbered parts with discrete, isometric (equally-long) stanzas. The first two parts contain four stanzas each, while the last two parts contain five. Each of the four parts ends at the moment when description yields to directly quoted speech: this speech first takes the form of the reaper’s whispering identification, then of the Lady’s half-sick lament, then of the Lady’s pronouncement of her doom, and finally, of Lancelot’s blessing. Each stanza contains nine lines with the rhyme scheme AAAABCCCB. The “B” always stands for “Camelot” in the fifth line and for “Shalott” in the ninth. The “A” and “C” lines are always in tetrameter, while the “B” lines are in trimeter. In addition, the syntax is line-bound: most phrases do not extend past the length of a single line.

Analysis:

Originally written in 1832, this poem was later revised, and published in its final form in 1842. Tennyson claimed that he had based it on an old Italian romance, though the poem also bears much similarity to the story of the Maid of Astolat in Malory’s Morte d’Arthur. As in Malory’s account, Tennyson’s lyric includes references to the Arthurian legend; moreover, “Shalott” seems quite close to Malory’s “Astolat.”

Much of the poem’s charm stems from its sense of mystery and elusiveness; of course, these aspects also complicate the task of analysis. That said, most scholars understand “The Lady of Shalott” to be about the conflict between art and life. The Lady, who weaves her magic web and sings her song in a remote tower, can be seen to represent the contemplative artist isolated from the bustle and activity of daily life. The moment she sets her art aside to gaze down on the real world, a curse befalls her and she meets her tragic death. The poem thus captures the conflict between an artist’s desire for social involvement and his/her doubts about whether such a commitment is viable for someone dedicated to art. The poem may also express a more personal dilemma for Tennyson as a specific artist: while he felt an obligation to seek subject matter outside the world of his own mind and his own immediate experiences—to comment on politics, history, or a more general humanity—he also feared that this expansion into broader territories might destroy his poetry’s magic.

Literary Analysis

Activity 8.5:

Read the poem 'Beauty' again and choose words from the poem that appeal to each of the senses. Organize the words in columns in  table, like the one below. One word may fit into more than one category. Examples have been included.

Discussion:

Beauty

is a fat black woman

walking the fields

pressing a breezed

hibiscus to her cheek

while the sun lights up

her feet

Beauty

is a fat black woman

riding the waves

drifting the happy oblivion

while the sea turns back

to hug her shape

1) Describe what is literally happening in each line. Try paraphrasing the action that occurs.

The main idea of the first stanza is to describe what beauty is, maybe to contradict the main stereotype of a blue eyed blonde being the image of Beauty. A fat black woman may not be attractive physically but Im guessing that the idea of the author is to say that the beauty it's not only referring to our physical attributes but for the attitude of the person as well.

2) What do you say to the claim that this is a poem about love?

I don't believe that this poem talks about love in any way, Im sure that the main theme of the poem is to talk about the beauty's stigmas and how the society describes and decides what's beautiful and what is not.

3) Comment on the rhyming scheme of the poem. How is it like the sea?

There's a rhyming pattern on the first stanza, but on the second one we're able to see a blank rhyme scheme, I guess this sounds may sound like the sea as the sea makes a noise that can't be repeated, a very particular sound that it's easy to recognise.

Activity 8.6:

For the extracts below state: 

1) Wether they are smilies or metaphors

2) What the literal and figurative terms are

3) What is named and/or what is implied