PEARLING for success: Approaching Tyger for Year 7

1. PEARLING for success:Approaching Tyger for Year 7 Friday, 20 December 2019 Jonathan Peel JLS 2015

2. Essay: How does Blake use metaphor to present the TYGER to the reader? PEARLS are made from GRIT – it takes time and does not always work. GRIT is a synonym for hard work! P Make a POINT E Support it with EVIDENCE (a quotation) A ANALYSE the evidence R RESPOND to it personally/ as an audience L Link forward to next paragraph or back to the question Jonathan Peel JLS 2015

3. Point • Write a thesis statement that you go on to evidence with a quotation. (This statement can be lifted directly from your introduction, or re-phrased.) e.g. “IN the opening stanza, Blake wants to show the Tyger as dangerous, yet exciting.” Jonathan Peel JLS 2015

4. Evidence • Your evidence must support the point you are making! E.g. “Blake uses the phrase”burning bright” to show how the colours and patterns of the Tyger’s skin can be presented metaphorically as fire”. Jonathan Peel JLS 2015

5. Analysis You have a quotation. Analyse it by doing one or more of the following: • Comment on the vocabulary used • Comment on imagery • Use of punctuation? • Is there a literary technique being used? Blake has chosen this specific phrase “burning bright” because of its double connotations of “destruction” and of the sense of excitement one gets from watching a powerful fire. He adds the “forest of the night” to suggest the fear of the unknown and the sense of powerlessness of the lost. Jonathan Peel JLS 2015

6. Let’s check that: • Blake has chosen the specific phrase “burning bright” because of its double connotations of “destruction” and of the sense of excitement one gets from watching a powerful fire. He adds the “forest of the night” to suggest the fear of the unknown and the sense of powerlessness of the lost. Zooms in to discuss key word Links to point by establishing meaning and connotation Discussion of the word, shows understanding Q.E.D. Jonathan Peel JLS 2015

7. RESPONSE? • What is the audience’s (or your) emotional response? Here, it might be: • Recognising the threat • Feeling the fear • Sensing the cruelty and even imagining the appearance of the tyger Jonathan Peel JLS 2015

8. P+E+A+R+__ Blake has chosen this specific phrase “forest of the night” because of its double connotations of “destruction” and of the sense of excitement one gets from watching a powerful fire. He adds the “forest of the night” to suggest the fear of the unknown and the sense of powerlessness of the lost. The effect on the reader is to convey the cruelty and beauty of the tyger to build up a sense of fear. The reader might also be able to imagine the dark forest to add to the fearful image being created. How would you link this to another paragraph? Show me where you are going… Write the link to complete this paragraph. Jonathan Peel JLS 2015

9. Another idea: • Look at this passage and the comment made What the hammer? What the chain? In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? What dread grasp Dare its deadly terrors grasp? • Think about the Punctuation and structure of these lines… In this stanza, what might you say about the rhetorical questions Being asked? Why does Blake ask So many questions of the reader? Jonathan Peel JLS 2015

10. PEARL 2 • P: Blake uses rhetorical questions to encourage the reader to challenge their preconceptions. • E: What the hammer? What the chain? In what furnace was thy brain? • A: The questions ask the reader to imagine the brain being made in a metaphorical furnace or oven. Blake is again using the imagery of fire to link the Tyger to Hell. • R: The triplet of questions reinforce the idea of a vast mechanical process which ties in with Blake’s view of the industrial revolution as destructive. Jonathan Peel JLS 2015

11. Don’t forget your PEARLs, girls!But, boys: other forms of analysis are available, such as Peeing or Peeling. Jonathan Peel JLS 2015