STEP ONE - Convene A Group : (with links)
STEP TWO - Poems referenced :
- The Rape of the Lock By Alexander Pope
- Epitaph of Sir Isaac Newton By Alexander Pope
- Marriage A-La-Mode By John Dryden
STEP THREE - Read the poem ( SEVENTH READING) :
- The Rape of the Lock : This poem is so insanely long that by even before the first reading had begun I was dreading what was to come. But in all honesty re-reading helped me understand it so much more. At first I thought it was of a man hating woman, then I realized how off I was! It is actually about a man wanting to take a lock of a woman (Belinda's) hair. Thank goodness I took the time to try to comprehend this poem at varying levels.
- Epitaph of Sir Isaac Newton : This poem may have been one of the shortest I have by far read, yet non the less a gorgeous one at that. Every rereading that occurred was just a beautiful as the last if not more. I was able to change my thought process from first thinking about life's amazing natural process to the unnatural creation of light. A very well rounded poem in my opinion.
- Marriage A- La- Mode : This poem is one of my favorites. Every time I reread it I pictured a different aspect of my past. It really hit home with me and enjoyed it just as well.
STEP FOUR : GRIDLOCK :
- TPCASTT: Poem Analysis Method:
title, paraphrase, connotation, diction,
attitude, tone, shift(s), title revisited and
themeTitle
of poem meansConnotation
of some of the words – changing literal meaning to implied or associated valuesAttitude
What is the attitude of the author, characters or yourself?Shift
At first we think or feel one way – then there is a shift: identify the shifts and explain themTitle revisited
Any new insights on meaning or significance of title?ThemePOEM : MARRIAGE-A-LA-MODE, BY JOHN DRYDENTitle :The title of this poem is ironic. Because “A-La-Mode” means by itself, without other substitutes. Yet the basis of this piece is that there are others involved within the marriage. An affair, if you will. That leads nothing more than to the contradicting attitude, the tone within the poem protrudes.Paraphrase:To paraphrase this poem I would first begin with the fact that it starts off with someone trying to defend their standpoint on how if a marriage looses it’s passion and it’s love, it should be okay to drift off from thy intended course. Yet it’s not until later do we realize the other path is an affair and a very disrespectful turn. Here though we come into a confusing shift (which I will talk about later)Connotation:In the connotation of the poem there is a lot of shortened words. Such as lov’d and decay’d … all missing their connecting piece. Perhaps it is simply done as part of the rhyming scheme. But in all honesty, I feel as if it lies with in a deeper meaning. I believe it relates to the marriage and theme of this piece. How when the marriage falls apart so do the words that describe it. I also noticed how on every 4th line of each section of the poem, the writer asks a question. And although I feel as if that may have more of a technical meaning it could just as well have an emotional response to correspond.Attitude:The attitude in this story is uncertain in my opinion. There is some pride, some carefree reminisce, some guilt, lost love. It had many varying emotions. But if I were to choose a dominating tone I would choose preservation. I choose this simply because most of the time the author is defending his stand point on the problem.Shift :The shift in the story is very interesting. I find it begins where the author, being male, creates the poem in 1st person . Yet the odd part is it is either a female’s point of view or the affair’s point of view. Yet at the beginning it sounds as if it is the husbands perspective that we were originating with. The turn of events lead to a very confusing discussion to be held.Title Revisited :Now that I think about it, the title could have a varying meaning. For instance because the shift is so awfully confusing, it could represent the option of the author having had all of this in his head. Perhaps A-La-Mode actually presents the idea of him being all alone because of his fears of things like this happening.Theme:DESTRUCTIONSTEP FIVE : GROUP THINK
