1.

Developing Communicative Competences in Primary and Secondary School Groups

The principle of activities.
Foreign language teaching is of great importance. The pupil is an active participant in the process-
he is involved in language activities. Throughout the whole course of instruction in modern
Psychology- activity is now generally considered to be the main characteristic of cognitive progress.
Activity arises under certain conditions. The pupil should fulfil a need to learn a subject and have
necessary pre-required sets created for a satisfaction of this need. The main sources of activity are:
-motivation
-desire
-interest
So in foreign language teaching it is necessary to stimulate pupils’ activity by involving them in
the act of communication in the target language either in oral or written form.
If pupils are not involved in communication and remain on the level of performing drill of
exercises, they soon loose their interest in the subject and become passive at the lesson. It is pupils
who should work and not the teacher during the lesson. Some ways to solve these problems are:
1. work in unison.
2. mass work when pupils are invited to listening to a text, to read a text silently, to do some
exercises in written form when they learn for themselves and do the same work.
3. work in small groups when pupils are divided into four –five groups and each group received a
special assignment either reading or speaking the work results in conversation between group I and
the class, group II and the class.
4. work in pairs.
5. individual work in programmed instruction when each pupil can work with the programme he
receives either through visual or auditory perception at his own pace.
The classroom interaction while teaching speaking can be of two types: teacher controlled and
learner directed. When it is teacher controlled it gives students practice in grammar and
vocabulary (accuracy work). Learner directed is putting the stress on fluency through a
combination of pair work and group work. It is important that students benefit from either work.
Accuracy activities can be controlled by the teacher and done by the whole class(with such
activities like: drills, games, controlled conversation, listening, writing) or directed by the
learners and done in groups and pairs( with such activities like: exercises, controlled
conversation, role play, games, questionnaires, listening, writing). Fluency activities can be
controlled by the teacher and done by the whole class( with activities like: conversation,
discussion, simulation, games, story-telling, listening, writing) or directed by the learners and
done in groups or pairs(with activities like: discussion, games, role play, project work, debate,
listening, reading, writing).
2. Developing Cultural Competences in Secondary and High School Groups

Social/multicultural competences show the learner’s ability to acquire the knowledge, skills
and attitudes necessary to increase the cross-cultural awareness concerning the allophone
country(traditions, holydays, historical, cultural personalities, etc. This group of competences
places the learner within a multidimensional world where there are different races, nationalities,
peoples. Graduating from secondary school the learner will show knowledge in geographic,
historic, social, cultural peculiarities of the allophone countries, awareness in foreign language
and literature importance as means of national and international communication, the recognition
of different cultures integration within the context of socio-economic globalization.
Graduating from secondary school the learner will posess:
a)interlinguistic competences based on the foreign languages studied.
b)terminological competences based on the domains of languages studied
c)intercultural competences based on the languages studied
3. Classroom Management in Adolescent Groups

4. Teaching Pronunciation and Vocabulary to Different Groups of EFL.

Pronunciation issues. Almost all English language teachers get the students to study grammar
and vocabulary, practise functional dialogues, take part in productive skill activities, and become
competent in listening and reading. Yet some of these teachers make little attempt to teach
pronunciation.
However, the fact that some students are able to acquire reasonable pronunciation without
specific pronunciation classes and exercises should not blind us to the benefit of a focus on
pronunciation in our lessons. Pronunciation teaching not only makes students aware of different
sounds, but can also improve their speaking immeasurable.
1. Pronunciation difficulties and problems. Two particular problems occur in much
pronunciation teaching and learning:
- What students can hear: some students have great difficulty features which we want to
reproduce. Speakers of different first languages have problems with different English speaking
sounds (/b/; /v/; /ð/; /θ/) they don’t have in their native language.
There are two ways of dealing with this: in the first place we can show students how sounds
are made through demonstration, diagrams, and explanation. But we can also draw the sounds to
their attention every time they appear on tape or in our conversation. When they can hear
correctly they are on the way to being able to speak correctly.
- The intonation problem: for the most teachers the most problematic area of pronunciation is
intonation. Some of us find it extremely difficult to hear “tunes” or to identity the patterns of
rising and falling tones.
The fact that we may have difficulty recognizing specific teaching does not mean that we
should abandon intonation teaching altogether. One of our tasks is to give the students
opportunities to recognise moods and intentions either on tape, or through the way we model
ourselves to them.
2. When to teach pronunciation. Teachers have to decide when to teach pronunciation into
a lesson sequence.
- Whole lessons: making pronunciation the main focus of a lesson does not mean that every
minute of the lesson has to be spent on pronunciation work. Sometimes students may also listen
to a longer tape, working on listening skills before moving to the pronunciation part of the
sequence. Sometimes students can work on vocabulary before going on to work on word stress,
sounds, and spelling.
- Discrete slots: some teachers insert short, separate bits of pronunciation work into a lesson
sequence. Over a period of weeks they work on all the individual phonemes either separately or
in contrasting pairs. At other times they spend a few minutes on a particular aspect of intonation,
say, or on the contrast between two or more sounds.
-Integrated phrases: when we model words and phrases we draw our students’ attention to the
way they are said; one of the things we want to concentrate on during an accurate reproduction
stage is the students’ correct pronunciation.
Active and Passive Vocabulary
It is a good idea for teachers to make often a distinction between ‘active’ and ‘passive’
vocabulary while teaching it. Passive reffers to vocabulary which can be recognized when
encountered, in a text for example, but which the learner cannot easily produce in speech or
writing as active vocabulary. However, this is too simple a characterization of language learning.
There are words which learners can remember or reactualize from memory and use them
automatically. There are other for which learners experience a ‘tip of the tongue effect’, recalling
something of the word but not its precise form. Yet other words exist in the memory but prove
difficult to recall. Let consider learners’ mother tongue, for instance. There will be items which
learners are able to recognise and understand, but which they find difficult to recall or do not
know sufficiently well to use accurately.30 There can be other items which learners understand,
but do not use, perhaps because they occur in contexts or types of discourse which are alien to
them.
 In the language learning situation, must be stressed the importance of decision- making
by the teacher about which items are worth learning for productive use and which are only useful
for purposes of recognition. This decision- making has several implications; the teacher will need
to select what he feels will be most relevant for the students’ productive vocabulary and this, in
turn, will affect his treatment of those items in the classroom. Clearly, the teacher has a great
responsibility since his knowledge of the complexities and usefulness of the items is likely to be
superior to the students’ knowledge. Nevertheless, the learner may be in a much stronger position
to decide whether an item is worth acquiring productively. 31 It is also worth stating at this point
that the learner who perceives the vital personal relevance of an item may well acquire it whether
the teacher pays great attention to it or not. Conversely, the learner may consciously or
subconsciously reject items which the teacher is trying to teach him.
Very often this transition of an item from a student’s receptive (passive) vocabulary to his
productive (active) one is a gradual process. Repeatedly hearing or reading the item over a
period of time is often the most common way in which this transition takes place. In the
classroom, teachers may at times be attempting to speed up this process by ‘making an issue’ of
the item: thus clarifying its meaning and form and encouraging controlled practice.
Dividing vocabulary into productive and receptive categories in this way may seem rather
artificial and indeed in many cases the decisions to be made are by no means clear- cut.
Nonetheless it seems useful to bear the distinction in mind and to strive towards selectivity based
on the students’ needs and learning environment.
Since vocabulary consists of a series of interrelating systems and is not just a random
collection of items, there seems to be a clear case for presenting items to a student in a
systematized manner which will both illustrate the organized nature of vocabulary and at the
same time enable him to internalize the items in a coherent way. Semantic field, or, as they are
commonly called in pedagogical terms, lexical sets, are made up of sets semantically similar
items. These fields may range from very broad categories, such as ‘life and living things’ to
smaller areas such as ‘kinds of man’ (e.g. man, gentleman, fellow) or ‘kinship relations’ (e.g.
son, daughter), and clearly the same item will occur in different fields. ‘Man’ may occur in a
semantic field with ‘types of servant’ or ‘human gender’. From the teacher’s point of view, too,
many of the groupings listed bellow are convenient. Lexical sets, for example, form useful
‘building blocks’ and can be revised and expanded as learners progress; they often provide a
clear context for practice as well.
The groupings bellow consists of different types of semantic fields as well as phonological and
gramatical sets.32 Clearly, some groupings are more appropriate at certain levels that at others.
 Items related by topic
One of the most common and useful groupings found in course books e.g. types of fruit, articles
of clothing, living room furniture, etc.
 Items which are similar in meaning
These are items which are easily confused e.g. pretty, lovely, attractive. Also to be included
within this grouping are commonly taught sets such as ‘ways of walking’ (e.g. limp, tiptoe,
amble, etc.) or ‘ways of looking’ (e.g. peer, squint, glance, stare, etc.).
This type of group needs to be handled extremely carefully; the items need to be contextualised
properly, and it is vital to highlight to learners the differences between items as clearly as
possible. One common danger is that grouping items in this way may force teachers into
including items of different levels of usefulness or frequency.
 Items which form ‘pairs’
These can be synonyms, contrasts and ‘opposites’ e.g.old/ new, buy/ sell, lend/borrow, obstinate/
stubborn. Contextualisation is essential here.
 Items along a scale or cline, which illustrate differences of degree
For example describing an essay- excellent/ very good/ good/ satisfactory/ weak
human age- a child/ a teenager/ an adult
The meaning of items within a scale or cline is obviously relative; for example, a hot day is not
the same as a hot furnace, but this rarely causes confusion in context.
 Items within ‘word families’
It is often possible to group items of vocabulary to illustrate the principles of word building, the
meanings of prefixes and suffixes and the related phonological difficulties:
e.g. biology- biologist- biological
psychology- psychologist- psychological
or pleasant- unpleasant
helpful- unhelpful
friendly- unfriendly
 Items grouped by (a) grammatical similarity and (b) notional similarity
This can be particularly useful at lower levels when dealing with areas such as adverbs of
frequency or prepositions, but may be just as relevant at later levels to group together nouns with
irregular plurals, or words expressing probability or possibility (e.g. There is a good chance
that…, He’s likely to…, It’s bound to…).
 Items which connect discourse
There are a variety of different types of connectives which act as ‘signposts’ in discourse and can
be grouped and treated as lexical items. The grouping of sentence adverbials used in listing, for
example, could include ‘to begin with’, ‘in the second place’, ‘last of all’. In a similar type of
grouping, one might find items such as ‘unless’, ‘otherwise’, ‘or else’, ‘provided (that)’ which
are related in that they impose some form of condition.
Adverbs ending in ‘+ ly’ (e.g. unfortunately, happily, surprisingly) are also important
connectives, but may not cause as much difficulty as the examples above e.g. He ran out of cash.
Fortunately, he had his American Express card with him.
This is an extremely important area since an understanding of these ‘signposts’ is vital in
comprehension, and unless they are understood, contextual guesswork may become almost
impossible.
 Items forming a set of idioms or multi- word verbs
Certain sets of multi- word verbs or idioms can form coherent groups e.g. to ring up, to call up,
to get through, to ring back; out of sorts, under the weather, on top of the world.
 Items grouped by spelling difficulty or phonological difficulty
This can be approached within a topic area e.g. food vocabulary- menu, pie, vegetable, recipe,
tough meat, steak.
 Items grouped by style
This may be a useful way to distinguish between items which are neutral or colloquial: cigarette=
ciggy, toilet= loo.
Similarly to deal with British and American English: petrol= gasoline, pavement= sidewalk,
lorry= truck.
It may therefore be most useful to see vocabulary knowledge as a scale running from
recognition of a word at one end to automatic production at the other, with the help of different
contexts. However, knowledge of some words will remain at the recognition end of the
continuum and will be called on in reading and listening but might never become part of
learner’s productive ability. This characterisation of vocabulary knowledge is complicated by the
phenomenon of forgetting: this can happen quite rapidly if distracting activities interrupt
effective storing of the word, or more slowly if the word has been stored in the memory but it
rarely encountered or used. There are various reasons why people remember some words better
than others: the nature of the words themselves, under what circumstances they are learnt, the
method of teaching and
 5. Approaches and Stages in Grammar Teaching to Different Groups of
EFL
Grammar plays an important role in the process of foreign language learning because in order to
understand a language and to express oneself correctly one must assimilate its grammar
mechanism. Moreover, no speaking is possible without the knowledge of grammar, without the
grammar mechanism formation. If a learner has acquired such a mechanism, he can produce
correct sentences in a foreign language. Still the role of grammar shouldn’t be overemphasized
when we refer to the communicative approach in teaching and though we cannot deny the
syllabus requirements the amount of grammar rules should be strictly structured according to the
learner’s age, level, needs, and allotted time. Too much grammar may lead young and beginner
level learners to demotivation as they have to learn many abstract rules and constantly practice
the structural patterns which they may find scary, boring or frustrating. The research surrounding
grammar is often conflicting. On the one hand, one can learn to communicate in a language
without the language being taught grammatically. On the other hand, once one has reached a
certain level of performance or competency, grammar becomes more important. So the
aprroaches proposed below are contrastive but worth considering. II. The Approaches in
Teaching Grammar

1. Teaching Grammar as Product-Deductively

It is by far the most widespread approach. According to it teaching is structured round a
certain “product”(grammatical form) to be taught in one or two lessons. Deduction is the process
of extracting the particular from the general. Viewed in the grammatical context it is deducing
the grammatical pattern(particular) from the grammar rule(general). Learners are presented with
explicit information about rules and their functions and they are guided to figure out the
grammatical structures and reinforce their forms in drills and other types of tasks. These
manipulations are mechanical as they do not require much effort on the part of the learners being
mostly under teacher’s control.

2. Teaching Grammar as Process-Inductively

Process teaching engages learners directly in the procedures of language use. Through
discovery techniques they are oriented to “task-based” activities to discover and practice by
themselves general features of grammar(rules) out of the structures proposed in specific
contexts(patterns)- a conscious process that requires effort on the part of the learners as they
have not only to induce the rules but also consider the quality of the language used in their tasks
and reflect on possible improvements.
Although there is a strong emphasis on inductive grammar teaching, particularly in
communicative language teaching approaches, both inductive and deductive strategies are
required in the classroom given the many learning styles of students. The more similar the
grammar structure is to the L1, the easier it is for students to grasp. Questions to consider in
relation to the teaching of grammar include:
  Should the item be taught deductively (giving the rule and then getting learners to
produce examples of target structure) or inductively (giving examples of the target
structure and getting learners to generate the rule)?

 Is the explanation clear?

 Are there sufficient examples?

 Are teachers themselves sure of the rules? (Nunan, 1999)

One way of teaching grammar to beginners is to use minimal grammar but to show
patterns and help these students see that there are patterns, so that when they get to more
intermediate and senior levels of learning they will be able to transfer the word ‘pattern’ to the
label of a grammar concept.

3. Teaching Grammar as Skill-Self Discovery

It is a kind of balanced approach which combines the product teaching with its focus
on grammatical forms with the process teaching which emphasizes self-expression of the
grammatical forms in meaningful context. This approach means guiding the learner’s
attention to grammar and designing tasks which enables them to develop the skill of using
and attending to grammar. It is for this reason that the approach is called “teaching
grammar as skill”. More explicitly, learners are given words which they gradually combine
in order to “grammaticize”.

Irrespective of the perspective of teaching grammar, the goals are achieved only when
the learners are able to produce grammar correctly in their own contexts in the process of
communication this is why grammar teaching shouldn't be restricted to «product” or
“process” only, exploring grammar as skill will increase efficiency and productivity thus
enhancing creative thinking.
III. Teaching Grammar Stages
The process of teaching a foreign language has several stages which are best
represented by Jeremy Harmer who has designed a general model for teaching grammar,
vocabulary, etc. These are: Presentation, Practice and Production. During this process
both: teachers and students assume certain roles.

1. Presentation

Presentation is the stage at which students are introduced to the form, meaning and
use of a new piece of language. At the same time as learning how the language is
constructed, they learn what it means and how it is used. As a whole, at this stage they
learn how to put the new syntax, words and sounds together. So it is very important for the
presentation to be a good one. In Teaching and Learning Grammar Jeremy Harmer
enumerates the characteristics of a good presentation which should be: clear, efficient,
lively and interesting, appropriate for the language that is being presented and last but not
least productive. During the presentation stage the purpose is that of recognition:
hearing/reading and understanding. Students must hear the structure correctly. That is
why the teacher can check by repetition, question/answers or translation(very limited) and
the students are supposed to understand the structure only roughly. Here are some ways of
presenting grammatical structures and functions:

a) Modelling -the teacher gives a clear spoken modelof the new structure with normal
speed, stress or intonation. The teacher can give this model a number of times, then
ask the students to repeat it in chorus or individually.

b) Isolation-teachers frequently isolate parts of the sentences they are modeling in

order to give them special emphasis. This might be done for more complicated
structures using color, highlighters, etc.

c) Explanation is another technique appropriate, even it is abstract and makes use of

technical words (metalanguage). Explanations in students’ mother tongue should be
avoided as much as possible. For beginner and elementary students isolation and
visual demonstration of grammar on the blackboard could be done by means of
diagrams, charts, drawings, underlined words, boxes, arrows, etc.

d) Time-Lines-a favourite technique for many teachers who introduce verbal tenses to
intermediate and advanced students.

e) Visuals-teachers may use cards, handouts, pictures, slides and other video
workshops to introduce a new grammatical pattern.

f) The Finger Technique- pointing out fingers that stand for parts of speech, parts of
sentence, contracted structures or other patterns in order to visually demonstrate
the ne grammatical structures formation and use.

g) Discovery Technique-students are given examples of language and asked to find out
how they work. This might function better with intermediate to advanced students
because they are asked to discover the rule rather than be told what it is requires a
good vocabulary as well as the appropriate skills. This is done in certain steps:

1.1. Text study: for ex: decide what the new grammar point is in the second passage?

1.2. Problem Solving-the teacher sets up a problem and asks students to solve it or asks
students to identify certain mistakes.

1.3. Drawings-this technique is actual with young learners, for ex. Marking the adverbs
of frequency with squares.

2. Practice
The second stage in grammar teaching is intended to reinforce the knowledge acquainted in
exercises such as drills in order to increase accuracy. Here are some techniques:

a) Repetition-under the form of repetitive drills with the whole class or with the
students in pairs. The teacher is able to get students to ask and answer questions
quickly and efficiently. This technique has both advantages and disadvantages. The
chief advantage of this technique is that teachers can correct any mistakes that the
students make and can encourage them to concentrate on difficulties at the same
time. The problem with drills is that they are not very creative. Teachers make sure
that they are not overused and that they do not go on for too long.
For ex: Let’s +verb
Teacher: Let’s play tennis
Students: Let’s play tennis
b) Substitution-under the form of drills it gives the students more freedom of choice
even if it remains very controlled language practice:
For ex: Let’s +verb
Teacher: You want to play football
Students: Let’s play football
c) Single Word Prompts
For ex: Let’s +verb
Teacher: Cinema
Students: Let’s go to the cinema
d) Prompts on the Blackboard may be organized and written under the form of charts
or simply in a sequence of words like this:
8 o’clock-get up-breakfast
Bus stop-bus-empty-surprised
School-closed-remembered-holiday
All these activities are fairly mechanical ways of getting students to demonstrate and
practice their ability to use specific language items in a controlled manner. There are
also other activities more meaningful and more enjoyable designed so that students
work together, exchange information in a purposeful and interesting way. These are:
Interaction Activities. They are of different types:
a) Information Gaps- The students work in pairs. They may ask each other questions in
order to fill in maps, forms in order to close the gaps in the information which they both
have.
b)Charts/Grids are very useful to promote interaction between students. In order to
complete them the students have to question each other and note down the replies
appropriate for this technique.
c) Games-various kinds of games have been used in language teaching for a long time
and they are both useful and highly motivating for young learners especially.
d) Multiple Choice –students have to choose the correct answers from a number of
alternatives.
3. Production
Many activities appropriate for the practice stage can also apply successfully to the
production one. The difference is that the first ones provide a mechanical practice while
the latter ones give a more meaningful communicative practice. Here are some typical
examples of activities used during the production stage:
a) Knowledge Quizzes-they can be used to practice various grammatical items but the
most common ones are those based on comparisons. For ex: What is the highest
mountain in the world? Students answer the questions either orally or in writing
preferably in complete sentences. For ex: Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the
world. They can be put in pairs or in groups and do the quiz with a time limit. This kind
of practice can take the form of a contest, thus becoming more enjoying and motivating.
b) Questions/Answers using a structure/a picture/ a situation/a text
c) Sentence Writing-students are asked to write their own sentences for applying
different structures: -Sentences about a picture using a particular verb tense;
 - sentences to finish if clauses, For ex: If I were you,…
d) Building sentences from key words
e) Word Order-students are given jumbled sentences which they have to unscramble.
For ex: At/gets/Margaret/home/half past six/usually.
f) Guessing what someone is miming-this is a good productive exercise for orally
applying new grammatical patterns
g) Personalization- the students use the new grammatical structures to say things which
really mean something to them or to apply the acquired knowledge to their situation for
example saying things about themselves, what they do, where they live, speak about
their daily programme, etc. using the new grammatical pattern.
Irrespective of the activities the teacher chooses for the production stage they should be
oriented from controlled to less controlled or freer practice so that the students are able
to “grammaticize” when they communicate in English.

6. Grouping Students

Group Work

Advantages Disadvantages

Helps to break the ice in the group Shy people can hide in a group
Promotes discussion More confident people can take over
You get lots of ideas/ views There can be a danger of personality
clashes
Assists the tutor in recognising Its’ not always the best learning method
personalities of the group
Helps people gain confidence
Provides an opportunity to move people
around

To deal with the disadvantages you can mix the groups’ don’t always have the same ones; set
time limits; Review ideas at the end of the lesson; tutor should monitor (eavesdrop) regularly;
use a variety of different methods in classes.

7. Educational Technology and Modern Teaching Equipment

30
31

32Lecture
STRENGTHS:
- presents factual material in direct, logical manner
- contains experience which inspires
- stimulates thinking to open discussion
- useful for large groups
LIMITATIONS:
- experts are not always good teachers
- audience is passive
- learning is difficult to gauge
- communication in one way
PREPARATION:
- needs clear introduction and summary
- needs time and content limit to be effective
- should include examples, anecdotes
Lecture with Discussion
STRENGTHS:
- involves audience at least after the lecture
- audience can question, clarify & challenge
LIMITATIONS:
- time may limit discussion period
- quality is limited to quality of questions and discussion
PREPARATION:
- requires that questions be prepared prior to discussion
-
Panel of Experts
STRENGTHS:
- allows experts to present different opinions
- can provoke better discussion than a one person discussion
- frequent change of speaker keeps attention from lagging
LIMITATIONS:
- experts may not be good speakers
- personalities may overshadow content
- subject may not be in logical order
PREPARATION:
- facilitator coordinates focus of panel, introduces and summarizes
- briefs panel
Strengths and Limitations of Teaching Methods
From "Getting the Most out of Your AIDS/HIV Trainings"
East Bay AIDS Education Training Center
Revised from 1989 addition by Pat McCarthy, RN, MSN, 1992
Brainstorming
STRENGTHS:
- listening exercise that allows creative thinking for new ideas
- encourages full participation because all ideas equally recorded
- draws on group's knowledge and experience
- spirit of congeniality is created
- one idea can spark off other other ideas
LIMITATIONS:
- can be unfocused
- needs to be limited to 5 - 7 minutes
- people may have difficulty getting away from known reality
- if not facilitated well, criticism and evaluation may occur
PREPARATION:
- facilitator selects issue
- must have some ideas if group needs to be stimulated
Videotapes
STRENGTHS:
- entertaining way of teaching content and raising issues
- keep group's attention
- looks professional
- stimulates discussion
LIMITATIONS:
- can raise too many issues to have a focused discussion
- discussion may not have full participation
- only as effective as following discussion
PREPARATION:
- need to set up equipment
- effective only if facilitator prepares questions to discuss after the show
Class Discussion
STRENGTHS:
- pools ideas and experiences from group
- effective after a presentation, film or experience that needs to be analyzed
- allows everyone to participate in an active process
LIMITATIONS:
- not practical with more that 20 people
- few people can dominate
- others may not participate
- is time consuming
- can get off the track
Strengths and Limitations of Teaching Methods
From "Getting the Most out of Your AIDS/HIV Trainings"
East Bay AIDS Education Training Center
Revised from 1989 addition by Pat McCarthy, RN, MSN, 1992
PREPARATION:
- requires careful planning by facilitator to guide discussion
- requires question outline
Small Group Discussion
STRENGTHS:
- allows participation of everyone
- people often more comfortable in small groups
- can reach group consensus
LIMITATIONS:
- needs careful thought as to purpose of group
- groups may get side tracked
PREPARATION:
- needs to prepare specific tasks or questions for group to answer
Case Studies
STRENGTHS:
- develops analytic and problem solving skills
- allows for exploration of solutions for complex issues
- allows student to apply new knowledge and skills
LIMITATIONS:
- people may not see relevance to own situation
- insufficient information can lead to inappropriate results
PREPARATION:
- case must be clearly defined in some cases
- case study must be prepared
Role Playing
STRENGTHS:
- introduces problem situation dramatically
- provides opportunity for people to assume roles of others and thus appreciate another
point of view
- allows for exploration of solutions
- provides opportunity to practice skills
LIMITATIONS:
- people may be too self-conscious
- not appropriate for large groups
- people may feel threatened
PREPARATION:
Strengths and Limitations of Teaching Methods
From "Getting the Most out of Your AIDS/HIV Trainings"
East Bay AIDS Education Training Center
Revised from 1989 addition by Pat McCarthy, RN, MSN, 1992
- trainer has to define problem situation and roles clearly
- trainer must give very clear instructions
Report-Back Sessions
STRENGTHS:
- allows for large group discussion of role plays, case studies, and small group exercise
- gives people a chance to reflect on experience
- each group takes responsibility for its operation
LIMITATIONS:
- can be repetitive if each small group says the same thing
PREPARATION:
- trainer has to prepare questions for groups to discuss
Worksheets/Surveys
STRENGTHS:
- allows people to thing for themselves without being influences by others
- individual thoughts can then be shared in large group
LIMITATIONS:
- can be used only for short period of time
PREPARATION:
- facilitator has to prepare handouts
Index Card Exercise
STRENGTHS:
- opportunity to explore difficult and complex issues
LIMITATIONS:
- people may not do exercise
PREPARATION:
- facilitator must prepare questions
Guest Speaker
STRENGTHS:
- personalizes topic
- breaks down audience's stereotypes
LIMITATIONS:
- may not be a good speaker
PREPARATION:
- contact speakers and coordinate
Strengths and Limitations of Teaching Methods
From "Getting the Most out of Your AIDS/HIV Trainings"
East Bay AIDS Education Training Center
Revised from 1989 addition by Pat McCarthy, RN, MSN, 1992
- introduce speaker appropriately
Values Clarification Exercise
STRENGTHS:
- opportunity to explore values and beliefs
- allows people to discuss values in a safe environment
- gives structure to discussion
LIMITATION:
- people may not be honest
- people may be too self-conscious
PREPARATION:
- facilitator must carefully prepare exercise
- must give clear instructions
- facilitator must prepare discussion questions

The group was asked to examine a teaching method and discuss the advantages and disadvantages
involved with it. Once this had been done, suggestions could be made about how to deal with the
disadvantages.

Anglo-Saxon Period

Old English literary works include genres such as epic poetry, hagiography, sermons, Bible
translations, legal works, chronicles, mainly the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, riddles and others. In all
there are about 400 surviving manuscripts from the period, a significant corpus of both popular
interest and specialist research. The manuscripts use a modified Roman alphabet, but Anglo-Saxon
runes or futhorc are used in under 200 inscriptions on objects, sometimes mixed with Roman letters.
This literature is remarkable for being in the vernacular (Old English) in the early medieval period:
almost all other written literature was in Latin at this time, but due to Alfred's programme of
vernacular literacy, the oral traditions of Anglo-Saxon England ended up being converted into
writing and preserved. We owe much of this preservation to the monks of the tenth century, who
made – at the very least – the copies of most of the literary manuscripts that still exist. Manuscripts
were not common items. They were expensive and hard to make. [220] First, cows or sheep had to be
slaughtered and their skins tanned. Then people had to decide to use this leather for manuscripts
rather than for any of the other things leather can be used for. The leather was then scraped,
stretched, and cut into sheets, which were sewn into books. Then inks had to be made from oak
galls and other ingredients, and the books had to be hand written by monks using quill pens. Every
manuscript is slightly different from every other one, even if they are copies of each other, because
every scribe had different handwriting and made different errors. We can sometimes identify
individual scribes from their handwriting, and we can often guess where manuscripts were written
because different scriptoria (centres of manuscript production) wrote in different styles of hand.[221]
There are four great poetic codices of Old English poetry (a codex is a book in modern format, as
opposed to a scroll): the Junius Manuscript, the Vercelli Book, the Exeter Book, and the Nowell
Codex or Beowulf Manuscript; most of the well-known lyric poems such as The Wanderer, The
Seafarer, Deor and The Ruin are found in the Exeter Book, while the Vercelli Book has the Dream
of the Rood,[222]some of which is also carved on the Ruthwell Cross. The Franks Casket also has
carved riddles, a popular form with the Anglo-Saxons. Old English secular poetry is mostly
characterized by a somewhat gloomy and introspective cast of mind, and the grim determination
found in The Battle of Maldon, recounting an action against the Vikings in 991. This is from a book
that was lost in the Cotton Library fire of 1731, but it had been transcribed previously.
Rather than being organized around rhyme, the poetic line in Anglo-Saxon is organised around
alliteration, the repetition of stressed sounds, any repeated stressed sound, vowel or consonant,
could be used. Anglo-Saxon lines are made up of two half-lines (in old-fashioned scholarship, these
are called hemistiches) divided by a breath-pause or caesura. There must be at least one of the
alliterating sounds on each side of the caesura.
hreran mid hondum hrimcealde sæ[g]
The line above illustrates the principle: note that there is a natural pause after 'hondum' and that the
first stressed syllable after that pause begins with the same sound as a stressed line from the first
half-line (the first halfline is called the a-verse and the second is the b-verse).[224]
There is very strong evidence that Anglo-Saxon poetry has deep roots in oral tradition, but, keeping
with the cultural practices we have seen elsewhere in Anglo-Saxon culture, there was a blending
between tradition and new learning.[225] Thus while all Old English poetry has common features, we
can also identify three strands: religious poetry, which includes poems about specifically Christian
topics, such as the cross and the saints; Heroic or epic poetry, such as Beowulf, which is about
heroes, warfare, monsters, and the Germanic past; and poetry about "smaller" topics, including
introspective poems (the so-called elegies), "wisdom" poems (which communicate both traditional
and Christian wisdom), and riddles. For a long time all Anglo-Saxon poetry was divided into three
groups: Cædmonian (the biblical paraphrase poems), heroic, and "Cynewulfian," named
after Cynewulf, one of the only named poets in Anglo-Saxon.The most famous works from this
period include the epic poem Beowulf, which has achieved national epic status in Britain.
The protagonist Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, comes to the aid of Hrothgar, king of the Danes,
whose great hall, Heorot, is plagued by the monster Grendel. Beowulf kills Grendel with his bare
hands and Grendel's mother with a giant's sword that he found in her lair.
Later in his life, Beowulf becomes king of the Geats, and finds his realm terrorized by a dragon,
some of whose treasure had been stolen from his hoard in a burial mound. He attacks the dragon
with the help of his thegns or servants, but they do not succeed. Beowulf decides to follow the
dragon to its lair at Earnanæs, but only his young Swedish relative Wiglaf, whose name means
"remnant of valour",[a] dares to join him. Beowulf finally slays the dragon, but is mortally wounded
in the struggle. He is cremated and a burial mound by the sea is erected in his honour.
Beowulf is considered an epic poem in that the main character is a hero who travels great distances
to prove his strength at impossible odds against supernatural demons and beasts. The poem also
begins in medias res or simply, "in the middle of things," which is a characteristic of the epics of
antiquity. Although the poem begins with Beowulf's arrival, Grendel's attacks have been an ongoing
event. An elaborate history of characters and their lineages is spoken of, as well as their interactions
with each other, debts owed and repaid, and deeds of valour. The warriors form a kind of
brotherhood linked by loyalty to their lord. The poem begins and ends with funerals: at the
beginning of the poem for Scyld Scefing (26–45) and at the end for Beowulf (3140–3170).

First battle: Grendel

Beowulf begins with the story of Hrothgar, who constructed the great hall Heorot for himself and his
warriors. In it, he, his wife Wealhtheow, and his warriors spend their time singing and celebrating.
Grendel, a troll-like monster said to be descended from the biblical Cain, is pained by the sounds of
joy.[20] Grendel attacks the hall and kills and devours many of Hrothgar's warriors while they sleep.
Hrothgar and his people, helpless against Grendel, abandon Heorot.
Beowulf, a young warrior from Geatland, hears of Hrothgar's troubles and with his king's
permission leaves his homeland to assist Hrothgar.[21]
Beowulf and his men spend the night in Heorot. Beowulf refuses to use any weapon because he
holds himself to be the equal of Grendel.[22] When Grendel enters the hall, Beowulf, who has been
feigning sleep, leaps up to clench Grendel's hand.[23] Grendel and Beowulf battle each other
violently.[24] Beowulf's retainers draw their swords and rush to his aid, but their blades cannot pierce
Grendel's skin.[25] Finally, Beowulf tears Grendel's arm from his body at the shoulder and Grendel
runs to his home in the marshes where he dies. [26]Beowulf displays "the whole of Grendel's shoulder
and arm, his awesome grasp" for all to see at Heorot. This display would fuel Grendel's mother's
anger in revenge.[27]
Second battle: Grendel's mother
The next night, after celebrating Grendel's defeat, Hrothgar and his men sleep in Heorot. Grendel's
mother, angry that her son has been killed, sets out to get revenge. "Beowulf was elsewhere. Earlier,
after the award of treasure, The Geat had been given another lodging"; his assistance would be
absent in this battle.[28] Grendel's mother violently kills Æschere, who is Hrothgar's most loyal
fighter, and escapes.
Hrothgar, Beowulf, and their men track Grendel's mother to her lair under a lake. Unferð, a warrior
who had earlier challenged him, presents Beowulf with his sword Hrunting. After stipulating a
number of conditions to Hrothgar in case of his death (including the taking in of his kinsmen and
the inheritance by Unferth of Beowulf's estate), Beowulf jumps into the lake, and while harassed by
water monsters gets to the bottom, where he finds a cavern. Grendel's mother pulls him in, and she
and Beowulf engage in fierce combat.
At first, Grendel's mother appears to prevail, and Hrunting proves incapable of hurting the woman;
she throws Beowulf to the ground and, sitting astride him, tries to kill him with a short sword, but
Beowulf is saved by his armour. Beowulf spots another sword, hanging on the wall and apparently
made for giants, and cuts her head off with it. Travelling further into Grendel's mother's lair,
Beowulf discovers Grendel's corpse and severs his head with the sword, whose blade melts because
of the "hot blood". Only the hilt remains. Beowulf swims back up to the rim of the pond where his
men wait. Carrying the hilt of the sword and Grendel's head, he presents them to Hrothgar upon his
return to Heorot. Hrothgar gives Beowulf many gifts, including the sword Nægling, his family's
heirloom. The events prompt a long reflection by the king, sometimes referred to as "Hrothgar's
sermon", in which he urges Beowulf to be wary of pride and to reward his thegns.[29]
Third battle: The dragon
Beowulf returns home and eventually becomes king of his own people. One day, fifty years after
Beowulf's battle with Grendel's mother, a slave steals a golden cup from the lair of a dragon at
Earnanæs. When the dragon sees that the cup has been stolen, it leaves its cave in a rage, burning
everything in sight. Beowulf and his warriors come to fight the dragon, but Beowulf tells his men
that he will fight the dragon alone and that they should wait on the barrow. Beowulf descends to do
battle with the dragon, but finds himself outmatched. His men, upon seeing this and fearing for their
lives, retreat into the woods. One of his men, Wiglaf, however, in great distress at Beowulf's plight,
comes to his aid. The two slay the dragon, but Beowulf is mortally wounded. After Beowulf dies,
Wiglaf remains by his side, grief-stricken. When the rest of the men finally return, Wiglaf bitterly
admonishes them, blaming their cowardice for Beowulf's death. Afterward, Beowulf is ritually
burned on a great pyre in Geatland while his people wail and mourn him, fearing that without him,
the Geats are defenceless against attacks from surrounding tribes. Afterwards, a barrow, visible
from the sea, is built in his memory (Beowulf lines 2712–3182)

Romantic Period
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual
movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its
peak in the approximate period from 1800 to 1850. Romanticism was characterized by its emphasis
on emotion and individualism as well as glorification of all the past and nature, preferring the
medieval rather than the classical. It was partly a reaction to the Industrial Revolution, the
aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment, and the
scientific rationalization of nature—all components of modernity It was embodied most strongly in
the visual arts, music, and literature, but had a major impact on historiography, education, the social
sciences, and the natural sciences. It had a significant and complex effect on politics, with romantic
thinkers influencing liberalism, radicalism, conservatism and nationalism.
In literature, Romanticism found recurrent themes in the evocation or criticism of the past, the cult
of "sensibility" with its emphasis on women and children, the isolation of the artist or narrator, and
respect for nature. Furthermore, several romantic authors, such as Edgar Allan Poeand Nathaniel
Hawthorne, based their writings on the supernatural/occult and human psychology. Romanticism
tended to regard satire as something unworthy of serious attention, a prejudice still influential
today.The romantic movement in literature was preceded by the Enlightenment and succeeded
by Realism.
Some authors cite 16th century poet Isabella di Morra as an early precursor of Romantic literature.
Her lyrics covering themes of isolation and loneliness, which reflected the tragic events of her life,
are considered "an impressive prefigurement of Romanticism", differing from
the Petrarchist fashion of the time based on the philosophy of love.
The precursors of Romanticism in English poetry go back to the middle of the 18th century,
including figures such as Joseph Warton(headmaster at Winchester College) and his brother Thomas
Warton, Professor of Poetry at Oxford University. Joseph maintained that invention and imagination
were the chief qualities of a poet. Thomas Chatterton is generally considered the first Romantic poet
in English.[42]The Scottish poet James Macpherson influenced the early development of
Romanticism with the international success of his Ossian cycle of poems published in 1762,
inspiring both Goethe and the young Walter Scott. Both Chatterton and Macpherson's work
involved elements of fraud, as what they claimed was earlier literature that they had discovered or
compiled was, in fact, entirely their own work. The Gothic novel, beginning with Horace
Walpole's The Castle of Otranto (1764), was an important precursor of one strain of Romanticism,
with a delight in horror and threat, and exotic picturesque settings, matched in Walpole's case by his
role in the early revival of Gothic architecture. Tristram Shandy, a novel by Laurence Sterne (1759–
67) introduced a whimsical version of the anti-rational sentimental novel to the English literary
public.

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

Summary of I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

 Popularity: Written by William Wordsworth, this poem is a wonderful literary piece of

nature’s description. It was first published in 1807 in Poems in Two Volume. It was written
as a lyric poem to capture the bewitching beauty of the wildflowers and express a deeper
feeling and emotions of the poet. It has become an eternal classic for describing the nature
and its scenic beauty.
  “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” as a Poem of Nature: As this poem is about the
captivating beauty of nature, it has been written from the subjective point of view. It details
the poet’s encounters with the majestic daffodils in the field beside the lake. The expression
of wonder can be felt throughout the poem. The feeling of enjoying the spellbinding beauty
of nature and its impacts on the human mind can leave the reader desiring to spend more
time with nature.

 Major Themes: The major theme of this poem is nature and human involvement in natural
beauty. It also points to another theme – the impact of nature on a human. The poem
encompasses the thoughts of an adult, why he meanders over the hills and how this sudden
occurrence is a blessing in his solitude.

Analysis of Literary Devices in “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”

 Simile: Simile is a device used to compare one object to another to help readers understand
or to clarify the meanings using ‘as’ or ‘like’. There are two similes used in this poem. “I
wandered lonely as a cloud.” He compares his loneliness with a single cloud. The second is
used in the opening line of the second stanza, “Continues as the stars that shine.” Here
Wordsworth compares the endless row of daffodils with countless stars.

 Personification: Personification is to attribute human characteristics to lifeless objects. The

poet has personified “daffodils” in the third line of the poem such as, “When all at once I
saw a crowd.” The crowd shows the number of daffodils. The second example of
personification is used in the second stanza as, “Tossing their heads and sprightly dance.” It
shows that the Daffodils are humans that can dance. The third example is in the third stanza
such as, “In a jocund company.” Here he considered the daffodils as his buoyant company.

 Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of the same consonant sounds in the same lines of
poetry such as the use of /g/ sound in, “I gazed and gazed” and the use of /w/ sound in,
“What wealth the show to me had brought.”

 Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line such as the sound
of /a/ in “Ten thousand I saw at a glance” and /e/ sound in “They stretched in never-ending.”

 Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds such as the sound of /t/ in
“what wealth the show to me had brought” and /n/ sound in “in vacant or in pensive.”

 Metaphor: Wordsworth has used one metaphor in this poem in the last stanza as “They
flash upon that inward eye.” Here “inward eye” represents the sweet memory of daffodils.

Analysis of Poetic Devices in “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”

Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is the analysis of
some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
  Stanza: A stanza is the poetic form of some lines. In this poem, there are four stanzas with
six lines in each stanza.

 Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows ABABCC rhyme scheme, where the first line rhymes
with the third, and the second line rhymes with the fourth lines respectively.

 Iambic Tetrameter: The poem follows Iambic Tetrameter which means there are four feet
per line, or each unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable as in the first line of
this poem such as “I wandered lone-ly as a ”

 Parallelism: It is the use of components in a sentence that is similar in their construction,

sound, meaning or meter such as, “beside the lake, beneath the trees.”

MODERN PERIOD
Literary modernism, or modernist literature, has its origins in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries, mainly in Europe and North America, and is characterized by a very self-conscious break
with traditional ways of writing, in both poetry and prose fiction. Modernists experimented with
literary form and expression, as exemplified by Ezra Pound's maxim to "Make it new."[1] This
literary movement was driven by a conscious desire to overturn traditional modes of representation
and express the new sensibilities of their time.The horrors of the First World War saw the prevailing
assumptions about society reassessed.

The Lady in the Looking-Glass: A Reflection by Virginia Woolf

In The Lady in the Looking-Glass: A Reflection by Virginia Woolf we have the theme of
materialism, perception, conflict, identity, appearance, honesty and loneliness. Taken from her The
Complete Shorter Fiction collection the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator
and from the beginning of the story the reader realises that Woolf may be exploring the theme of
identity. Isabella is not seen at the start of the story and the reader is left to try and imagine who she
might be by use of the narrator’s words and description. Which is flattering to Isabella leaving the
reader to believe that Isabella is a happy, middle aged woman who lives her life entertained by her
many friends. However as the story progresses it becomes clear to the reader that all is not what it
might seem to be. Isabella has no friends. All the letters that the narrator had suggested might be
letters from admirers and friends are in fact nothing more than bills. This may be important, the fact
that Isabella has no friends, as it would play on the theme of loneliness. It would appear that all
Isabella has in her life is her garden. There are no friends who might call to her home. It is also
noticeable that Woolf is using a lot of colour in her description of Isabella’s drawing-room. This
could be symbolically important as Woolf may be attempting to give life to the room. Which in
many ways is somewhat ironic when the reader considers that Isabella lives a lonely life.

What may also be important is the fact that Isabella’s drawing-room is richly decorated yet in all
likelihood she has not paid for any of the items in the room. Hence the bundles of bills in the
drawer. It is possible that Isabella is living well beyond her means in the hopes that she can fill her
life with something. The narrator does after all advise the reader that Isabella was ‘empty.’ Isabella
may be furnishing her home thinking that this will fill the void she may feel in her life. On the
surface Isabella appears to have everything. Yet as readers we know that she in reality is a lonely
and empty person. It also appears to be a case that the narrator is playing with perception at the
beginning of the story. Though the world the narrator is discussing is imaginative it may be the
world that Isabella would like society to see. She may wish to be seen as a happy person however
the reality is very different. She is again empty.

There is also a sense that Isabella lives her life in conflict or at least lives unrealistically. She has the
finest of clothes, the finest of furniture yet she is not happy. Again there is a void in her life that
darkens life for Isabella. What this darkness may be is left to each reader to decide. It may be a case
that Isabella is unhappy that she never found companionship in her life. The only person in
Isabella’s life is herself. There is nobody else. Which for any human being is a sad thing to have to
feel or be conscious of. It is also possible that Isabella is buying things for her home to replace the
things she cannot have in life, like a friend or companion. All the bills would also suggest that
Isabella may be a victim of materialism. Buying so many things in order to make herself feel better.
However the reality is Isabella no matter what items she might purchase for her home is no happier.
Appearance also seems to be important to Isabella. That may be part of the reason she has her home
so richly decorated. She is attempting to live the life of somebody she is not. However for Isabella
to keep up the appearance of being someone who is happy or successful can only end up with
Isabella getting herself into trouble. There are countless bills that have not been paid. There are no
friends to help Isabella out. All she has is herself. Though she doesn’t seem to recognise this. Her
life is a façade and Isabella is living as she does in order to avoid feeling the truth about her life. At
no stage in the story does the reader suspect that Isabella has firstly been honest with herself and
secondly she has not shown the capacity that is required to be honest with oneself. So painful is the
truth to Isabella she escapes into a world that is not real and which cannot be sustained. She is
spending money on things she cannot afford in order to feel better about her life. It would be far
better for Isabella to accept who she really is and to try and live her life to the best of her ability
without being dependent on putting on a show for others. Though again the reality is there are no
others in Isabella’s life. She is an empty and lonely middle aged woman with no friends or no one to
care for.

Upon the burning of our house

"Here follow some verses upon the burning of our house, July 10, 1666", commonly known as
"Verses upon the Burning of our House", is a poem by Anne Bradstreet. She wrote it to express
the traumatic loss of her home and most of her possessions. However, she expands the
understanding that God had taken them away in order for her family to live a more pious life.
Bradstreet feels guilty that she is hurt from losing earthly possessions. It is against her belief that
she should feel this way; showing she is a sinner. Her deep puritan beliefs brought her to accept that
the loss of material was a spiritually necessary occurrence. She reminds herself that her future, and
anything that has value, lies in heaven. Though she feels guilty, she knows that she is one of the
fortunate ones who have salvation regardless; God gives it to his followers, and will help them fight
their sin on this earth. The burning of her house was to fight her family's sins of material idols.
The poem has a couplet-based rhyme scheme. It has many lines with an inverted syntax, making
lines sound "odd

A White Heron
"A White Heron" is a short story by Sarah Orne Jewett. First published by Houghton, Mifflin and
Company in 1886, it was soon collected as the title story in Jewett's anthology A White Heron and
Other Stories. It follows a young city girl named Sylvia who came to live with her grandmother in the
country. She meets a young ornithologist hunter seeking to find a rare bird that he recently spotted in
the area. As the story progresses, Sylvia is challenged with whether or not she should tell the hunter
she saw the bird. She also discovers her passion for country life and her love and values for the
animals that inhabit it.

Themes

"A White Heron" can be thought of as a starting point for both ecological, nature-ethical literature in the
US, and questioning the undoubted positive development of the US. The author explores a number of
ecological themes including the freedom of nature, a return to nature, emancipation from materialism
and industrialism. Other themes explored include the hesitation of actions that might counteract the
proceeding industrialization and the recollection of the individual human being as the important actor in
society.

Feminism
The protagonist in “A White Heron” can be seen as an example of a woman of power and embodying
heroism. Some criticism has even acknowledged the fact that the main character of the story may have
been loosely based off Jewett's life growing up. Losing her father encouraged a need to be a strong and
powerful young girl.[2] She created a character who expressed the female voice of the women of her
time in a new perspective than traditionally published works.

Daddy
Sylvia Plath's poem "Daddy" remains one of the most controversial modern poems ever written. It is a
dark, surreal, and at times painful allegory that uses metaphor and other devices to carry the idea of a
female victim finally freeing herself from her father. In Plath's own words:
"Here is a poem spoken by a girl with an Electra complex. Her father died while she thought he was
God. Her case is complicated by the fact that her father was also a Nazi and her mother very possibly
Jewish. In the daughter the two strains marry and paralyze each other—she has to act out the awful
little allegory once over before she is free of it."
"Daddy" was written on October 12th 1962, a month after Plath had separated from her husband and
moved—with their two small children—from their home in Devon to a flat in London. Four months later
Plath was dead, but she wrote some of her best poems during that turbulent period.

The speaker says after 30 years, she will no longer live trapped inside the memory of her father. Her
comparison of him to a shoe evokes the old nursery rhyme about an old woman who lives in a shoe,
and the singsong repetition and the word "achoo" sounds similarly childish. The "you" to whom the
poem is addressed is the absent father.

He broke her heart. He died when she was 10 and she tried to commit suicide at 20 to get "back,
back, back" (like earlier, when she tried to "recover" him). The repetition here emphasizes her futile
desperation.

She makes a man in her father's image, a sadist, and marries him ("I do, I do"). So now, she no
longer needs her father. She cuts off communication with him, the dead, here.

"Daddy" is an attempt to combine the personal with the mythical. It's unsettling, a weird nursery
rhyme of the divided self, a controlled blast aimed at a father and a husband (since the two conflate
in the 14th stanza). The poem expresses Plath's terror and pain lyrically and hauntingly. It combines
light echoes of a Mother Goose nursery rhyme with much darker resonances of World War II.

The father is seen as a black shoe, a bag full of God, a cold marble statue, a Nazi, a swastika, a
fascist, a sadistic brute, and a vampire. The girl (narrator, speaker) is trapped in her idolization of
this man. She is a victim trapped in that black tomblike shoe, in the sack that holds the father's
bones, and—in a sense—in the train as it chugs along to Auschwitz. "Daddy" is full of disturbing
imagery, and that's why some have called "Daddy" "the Guernica of modern poetry."

Stylistic devices
Metaphor and simile are present, as are half-rhymes, alliteration, and assonance. The father is
compared to a black shoe, a bag full of God, a giant, cold, marble statue, a Nazi, a swastika, a
fascist, a sadist, and a vampire.
The old man and the sea

The Old Man and the Sea is a short novel written by the American author Ernest Hemingway in
1951 in Cuba, and published in 1952.[1] It was the last major work of fiction by Hemingway that
was published during his lifetime. One of his most famous works, it tells the story of Santiago, an
aging Cuban fisherman who struggles with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream off the coast of
Cuba.

Themes
The Honor in Struggle, Defeat & Death

From the very first paragraph, Santiago is characterized as someone struggling against defeat. He
has gone eighty-four days without catching a fish—he will soon pass his own record of eighty-
seven days. Almost as a reminder of Santiago’s struggle, the sail of his skiff resembles “the flag of
permanent defeat.” But the old man refuses defeat at every turn: he resolves to sail out beyond the
other fishermen to where the biggest fish promise to be. He lands the marlin, tying his record of
eighty-seven days after a brutal three-day fight, and he continues to ward off sharks from stealing
his prey, even though he knows the battle is useless.

Pride as the Source of Greatness & Determination

Many parallels exist between Santiago and the classic heroes of the ancient world. In addition to
exhibiting terrific strength, bravery, and moral certainty, those heroes usually possess a tragic flaw
—a quality that, though admirable, leads to their eventual downfall. If pride is Santiago’s fatal flaw,
he is keenly aware of it. After sharks have destroyed the marlin, the old man apologizes again and
again to his worthy opponent.

Life from Death

Death is the unavoidable force in the novella, the one fact that no living creature can escape. But
death, Hemingway suggests, is never an end in itself: in death there is always the possibility of the
most vigorous life. The reader notes that as Santiago slays the marlin, not only is the old man
reinvigorated by the battle, but the fish also comes alive “with his death in him.” Life, the
possibility of renewal, necessarily follows on the heels of death.

Symbols
The Marlin
Magnificent and glorious, the marlin symbolizes the ideal opponent. In a world in which
“everything kills everything else in some way,” Santiago feels genuinely lucky to find himself
matched against a creature that brings out the best in him: his strength, courage, love, and respect.
The Lions on the Beach
Santiago dreams his pleasant dream of the lions at play on the beaches of Africa three times. The
first time is the night before he departs on his three-day fishing expedition, the second occurs when
he sleeps on the boat for a few hours in the middle of his struggle with the marlin, and the third
takes place at the very end of the book. In fact, the sober promise of the triumph and regeneration
with which the novella closes is supported by the final image of the lions. Because Santiago
associates the lions with his youth, the dream suggests the circular nature of life. Additionally,
because Santiago imagines the lions, fierce predators, playing, his dream suggests a harmony
between the opposing forces—life and death, love and hate, destruction and regeneration—of
nature.
The Shovel-Nosed Sharks
The shovel-nosed sharks are little more than moving appetites that thoughtlessly and gracelessly
attack the marlin. As opponents of the old man, they stand in bold contrast to the marlin, which is
worthy of Santiago’s effort and strength. They symbolize and embody the destructive laws of the
universe and attest to the fact that those laws can be transcended only when equals fight to the
death. Because they are base predators, Santiago wins no glory from battling them.