1 / 13

Seamus Heaney

Seamus Heaney. Blackberry Pickin ’. Seamus Heaney born 1939 in IRELAND. Biography. His father, Patrick , was a farmer and his parents died when Seamus was a very young boy. Seamus went to a Catholic boarding school for his school years.

ganesa
Download Presentation

Seamus Heaney

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Seamus Heaney Blackberry Pickin’

  2. Seamus Heaney born 1939 in IRELAND

  3. Biography • His father, Patrick , was a farmer and his parents died when Seamus was a very young boy. • Seamus went to a Catholic boarding school for his school years. • His brother was killed in a road accident when Seamus was away at school. • In 1995 he won the Nobel Prize for poetry. • He still lives in Dublin, Ireland.

  4. Mossbawn Sunlight • There was a sunlit absence.The helmeted pump in the yardheated its iron,water honeyedin the slung bucketand the sun stoodlike a griddle coolingagainst the wallof each long afternoon.So, her hands scuffledover the bakeboard,the reddening stovesent its plaque of heatagainst her where she stoodin a floury apronby the window. • Now she dusts the boardwith a goose's wing,now sits, broad-lapped,with whitened nailsand measling shins:here is a spaceagain, the scone risingto the tick of two clocks.And here is lovelike a tinsmith's scoopsunk past its gleamin the meal-bin.

  5. Fondness and Nostalgia • Theme I: Slow Passage of Time • Theme II: Movements and Actions within house • Theme III: Preservation of childhood memories • Theme IV: Imagery used to create a laid back calm setting. • Theme V: Love and Affection through baking

  6. Blackberry Picking • Late August, given heavy rain and sun • for a full week, the blackberries would ripen. • At first, just one, a glossy purple clot • among others, red, green, hard as a knot. • You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet • like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it • leaving stains upon the tongue and lust for • picking. Then red ones inked up and that hunger • sent us out with milk-cans, pea-tins, jam-pots • where briars scratched and wet grass bleached our boots • Round hayfields, cornfields and potato-drills • we trekked and picked until the cans were full, • until the tinkling bottom had been covered • with green ones, and on top big dark blobs burned • like a plate of eyes. Our hands were peppered • with thorn pricks, our palms sticky as Bluebeard's. • We hoarded the fresh berries in the byre. • But when the bath was filled we found a fur, • A rat-grey fungus, glutting on our cache. • The juice was stinking too. Once off the bush • the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour. • I always felt like crying. It wasn't fair • that all the lovely canfuls smelt of rot. • Each year I hoped they'd keep, knew they would not.

  7. List the things YOU SEE. . . . • list the things you “see” in the “I see . . .” column of the handout. • The phrase “glossy purple clot” presents a very vivid image, so you included it on your sheet.  • Do not worry about THEME at this point!! Just list words and phrases that seem STRIKING TO YOU.

  8. Now for the LUMPING!! Take the items in your list and “lump” them into categories under the “Lumping” heading in the right column.  For instance, the poem contains numerous references to decay, so next to number 1, write “decay” as a category and beneath it you might list “rat grey fungus,” “fermented,” and “smelt of rot” as supporting specifics. 

  9. THE 2 STANZAS MEAN SOMETHING? • When examining a poem’s details, diction, and imagery, a reader should also examine the poem’s pattern. “Blackberry-Picking,” for instance, is divided into two stanzas. The first stanza contains specifics related to ripeness, blood, and lust, as the speaker describes the act of blackberry picking, while the second stanza contains specifics related to decay, sadness, and loss, as the speaker describes what happens to their bounty. Note that there is a definite shift in tone between the two stanzas. 

  10. Answer these Questions: • Why is the first stanza longer than the second? Does the poem have a rhyme scheme? If so, what is it and what is its significance? Do you notice any sound devices? Alliteration? Assonance? Consonance? What is the significance of the devices your identify?

  11. Literary Graffitti • “Summary of the Text,” write your theme statement. Remember, a theme should be stated in a complete thought, not a single word. Example: Love is Blind • Now, create a Literary Graffitti picture using the imagery you have drawn from the poem. You may include phrases from the poem.

  12. Congratulations!!!! • You have just explicated your very first poem!!

More Related