If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;
Journal 27: "The Waking"
- Describe the effect of the refrain in this poem.
- What is the "another thing to do to you and me" in lines 13-14?
- Write a thesis in response to the SAT Prompt: What does the poem and how does the writer convey that meaning within the text?
"The Waking" by Theodore Roethke
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate I what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.
We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.
Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me; so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.
This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.
Journal 28: Example Essay Analysis
Example Essay from "One Art"
- What tips can you take from this example to help you on your In Class Essay this block day?
- How is citing different when working with a poem?
- How does CAB thesis morph when writing a literary analysis?
SAT Style Essay ~ Poetry Analysis
Directions: As you read the passage, consider how [the author] creates meaning through the elements within the text. Consider that there are many areas that you may examine to find evidence to
support your interpretation:
- evidence, such as facts or examples or direct wording.
- stylistic or persuasive elements, such as word choice or appeals to emotion, to add power to the ideas expressed.
- structural features such as punctuation or sonnet rhyme schemes/structures.
- rhetorical features such as poetic devices.
Prompt: Write a 3-5 paragraph essay in which you explain what the poem means and the writer craftily conveyed that meaning within the text. (Your essay should not explain whether you agree with the message of the poem, but rather explain how the author clearly makes his/her message.)
