10.03 - Roots and Diction Quizzes, Neruda Analysis

At the beginning of class today, everyone got out their analysis of Pablo Neruda's use of tone in "Ode to My Sox" and responded to the following prompt in their writer's journal:

What are the main strengths in your annotations and analysis of how tone relates to message in Neruda's Ode to My Socks"?

After everyone had a chance to respond to this prompt, we discussed students' answers. Next, I passed out annotations and analysis that I had done of the poem as a model (see below). We looked at the annotations, read the analysis and then everyone responded to the following prompt in their writer's journal:

What strengths do you notice in these annotations and analysis that you could incorporate into your own writing to make your writing stronger?

After everyone had a chance to respond to this prompt, we discussed the strengths that people noticed. Some strengths people noticed included:
      - short quotes that are integrated well into the sentence (quote flow with the writing)
      - quotations are cited (line numbers after each quote)
      - there is a clear relationship between the identified tones and the diction

We then also looked at ways this analysis could be improved. Some things that people noticed included:

      - awkward phrasing in the second to last line with the word "more"
      - the analysis does not discuss the denotation of words (only connotation)
      - the claim that Neruda's feet are an "ocean" element doesn't have enough
               evidence to be strongly supported

The strengths that people identified in their own writing and ways in which they could improve their work are elements that people should keep in mind as they proceed with the diction quiz and analysis of either "United Fruit Co." or "Standard Oil Co." by Pablo Neruda.

We then had the set three roots and prefixes quiz and the diction revision quiz (which people could choose to complete or not based on their previous performance with the diction quiz).

When people had finished these quizzes, they had the rest of the time available to work on their analysis of message and tone in either "United Fruit Co." or "Standard Oil Co." by Pablo Neruda.


Handouts:

"Ode to My Socks" - Model Annotation and Analysis by Mr. Collins

Neruda Annotation and Analysis Prompt
"United Fruit Co." and "Standard Oil Co" by Pablo Neruda

Homework:

If you did not do so in class, complete your written analysis of either Neruda's "United Fruit Co." or "Standard Oil Co."

Class Site Bonus:

For those who chose to analyze Neruda's "Standard Oil Co.", it will be helpful to have a bit of an understanding around how drilling for oil works.

Below is a cut away view of what different drilling operations look like. When this poem was written in 1940, the vertical well would have been the most common sort.

Click Image to Enlarge

This video explains the drilling and refining process for oil as it would have been familiar to Neruda when he wrote "Standard Oil Co." (the poem was written in about 1940).

This video shows what the oil drilling process is like today: