Rhythm

Rhythm

13.2.1. Lifts, half-lifts and drops

We mentioned at the head of this chapter that a verse generally has two lifts, or stressed syllables. A lift will normally be a long syllable. The italicized syllables in these words are long:

hlēoðrode	healle
frēolic	weġ

But the italicized syllables in these words are short and so will not normally be lifts, even though they are the stressed syllables of their words:

wera	duru
dagas	ābrocen

Two short syllables can, however, add up to what is called a resolved lift, which we mark with a tie between a stroke and a backward stroke. For example, in this line,

m/͜×oneg×um m/ǣġþ×um    m/͜×eodos\etl×a ×oftē/ah

(Beowulf, l. 5)

the first two syllables of monegum and meodosetla make resolved lifts. In addition, a lift may consist of a single short syllable when it immediately follows another lift.

There is a strong tendency in Old English poetry to group weakly stressed words that are not proclitic[2]at the beginning of a clause or immediately after the first lift in a clause. These weakly stressed words include conjunctions, finite verbs, adverbs and pronouns; you will often find them clustered right at the beginning of a verse, before the first lift, as here,

s×yðþ×an h×ē h×ir×e    f/olm×um ×æthr/ān

(Beowulf, l. 722b)

where a conjunction and two pronouns (five syllables in all) constitute the drop that comes before the first lift. When a word that normally is weakly stressed occurs somewhere other than its accustomed position, it acquires stress. Thus a finite verb, adverb or pronoun will be stressed if it does not come before or immediately after the first lift, and a proclitic, such as a preposition, will be stressed if it follows the word it normally precedes:

/͜×Hete w×æs ×onhr/ēr×ed

ð×ā h×ē ġ×eb/olg×en w/æs

f×or ð×on ×iċ m×ē o/n h/af×u

gr/undw\ong þ/on×e

(Beowulf, ll. 2556a, 723b, 2523b, 2588a)

In the first of these examples, the finite verb wæs, coming right after the first lift (hete), remains unstressed, but in the second example wæs at the end of the clause is stressed. In the third example, a preposition (on) comes after its object (mē), and in the fourth example, a pronoun used as an adjectival “article” follows the noun it modifies. Both the preposition and the pronoun are lifts. The preposition even participates in the alliterative pattern of the line.

The second element of a compound noun normally has a half-stressed syllable (this is still true: say “the flashlight” aloud to yourself and listen to the relative stress levels of the, flash and light). In Old English meter, a half-stress may sometimes be treated as part of the drop and sometimes as the lift:

m×͜/edudrē\am m/ār×an

bē/odġ×enē\at×as

(Beowulf, ll, 2016a, 1713b)

In the first example, the half-stress -drēam comes where you expect a drop, while in the second the half-stress -nēa- comes where you expect a lift.

13.2.2. Rhythmic types

Every correctly constructed verse belongs to one of the five rhythmic types. The rhythmic patterns of these types are not fixed, but rather flexible. Each type has a basic form and a range of variations on that form. The rhythmic patterns of modern verse also have variations. In this line, for example,

The whiskey on your breath

which we perceive as having three iambs (× / | × / | × /), we in fact pronounce the second iamb as two unstressed syllables (× / | × × | × /). The phonetic realization of a poetic line can differ quite a bit from its basic form; in fact, any poem in which the two do not differ is certain to strike us as monotonous. The differences between basic form and phonetic realization are themselves governed by rules that ensure that the verse retains its integrity so that we can still recognize it as poetry.

A. Basic form: lift, drop, lift, drop.

This is the most common type of verse. Examples:

ē/ow×er lē/od×e

s/org×e ġ×efre×͜/med×e

(Beowulf, ll. 596b, 2004b)

Notice that the drop may consist of more than one unstressed syllable. Either or both of the drops may also be replaced by a half-lift. The second lift may also be replaced by a half-lift, but half-lifts cannot replace both drops and lifts in the same verse.

• Many metrists believe that verses were subdivided into feet. If so, the first line above would be divided / × | / × and the second would be divided  / × | × /͜× ×. Not all scholars agree that verses were so divided. This book takes no position on that question, but omits the division into feet as unlikely to be of much use to students beginning to read poetry.

An extra syllable may precede the first lift in an A-type verse; this phenomenon, called anacrusis, occurs only in on-verses. This line exhibits anacrusis:

×in m/ǣġþ×a ġ×ehw/ǣr×e

(Beowulf, l. 25a)

You will frequently encounter A-type verses in which the first lift is so weak that you may have difficulty locating it at all. These “light” A-type verses typically occur at the beginnings of clauses. They are always on-verses. Examples:

(/)hī h×in×e þ×ā ×ætb/ǣr×on

(/)Ðā c×ōm ×of m/ōr×e

(Beowulf, ll. 28, 118a)

B. Basic form: drop, lift, drop, lift.

B-type verses are especially common as off-verses, though they also occur as on-verses:

N×e sc×el /ān×es hw/æt

þ×æt s×e s/īð n×e ð/āh

(Beowulf, ll. 3010b, 3058b)

The first drop may have as many as five syllables, but the second can have no more than two.

C. Basic form: drop, lift, lift, drop.

Verses of this type, in which the clashing stresses are rather startling to the modern ear, are more often than not off-verses. Examples:

×Oft Sc/yld Sc/ēf×ing

þē×ah h×e h×im lē/of w/ǣr×e

(Beowulf, ll. 4a, 203b)

Though the first drop may have as many as five syllables, the second drop may have only one. The second lift is often a short syllable, since it immediately follows the first:

þ×æt h×īe /ǣr dr/ug×on

(Beowulf, l. 15a)

D. Basic forms: lift, lift, half-lift, drop; lift, lift, drop, half-lift.

D-type verses often consist of a word of one long or two short syllables followed by a word of three syllables; alternatively, a D-type verse may be a compound whose second element has three syllables. The drop at or near the end of the verse never has more than one syllable. Examples:

s/͜×unu /Ecgl\āf×es

fl/ets/itt\end×um

h/ār h/ild×er\inc

(Beowulf, ll. 590b, 1788a, 1307a)

Some D-type verses are “extended,” with a one- or two-syllable drop after the first lift:

wē/old×on w/ælst\ōw×e

hw/īl×um h/ild×edē\or

(Beowulf, ll. 2051a, 2107a)

E. Basic form: lift, half-lift, drop, lift.

The E-type verse is the inverse of the D-type, frequently consisting of a three-syllable word followed by a word of one long syllable or two short ones:

/edw\end×en cw/ōm

st/efn \in b×ec/ōm

(Beowulf, ll. 1774b, 2552b)

The drop may consist of two short syllables (never more):

fe/orhsw\enġ n×e ×oftē/ah

(Beowulf, l. 2489b)

13.3.3. Hypermetric verses

Occasionally you will encounter clusters of lines in which the verses appear to be exceptionally long. These extended verses, which we call hypermetric, occur rarely in Beowulf, but frequently in The Dream of the Rood and Judith. Here is a sample:

Þurhdrifan hī mē mid deorcum næġlum.   On mē syndon þā dolg ġesīene,
opene inwidhlemmas.   Ne dorste iċ hira nǣnigum sceððan.
Bysmeredon hīe unc būtū ætgædere.   Eall iċ wæs mid blōde bestēmed,
begoten of þæs guman sīdan,   siððan hē hæfde his gāst onsended.

[They drove dark nails through me. The wounds, open wicked wounds,
are visible on me. I did not dare to harm any of them.
They reviled both of us together. I was entirely drenched with blood,
poured from the man’s side after he had sent forth his spirit.]

(The Dream of the Rood, ll. 46-49)

Exactly what is going on in this kind of verse is a matter of some disagreement. The traditional view is that hypermetric on-verses are normal verses with a prefix that usually takes the form /× × or / × (but is sometimes longer), while hypermetric off-verses have an extra-long drop before the first lift, thus:

o/͜×pen×e /inw\idhl/emm×as

E×all ×iċ w×æs m×id bl/ōd×e b×est/ēm×ed

We may interpret the first of these verses as an A-type with /͜× × prefixed and the second as another A-type with × × × × prefixed.

Some scholars have argued that this traditional view provides an inadequate explanation of the hypermetric verses. It is beyond the scope of a grammar book to discuss in detail the competing theories regarding these verses. You may take the traditional view as a starting point, read further, and decide for yourself what stylistic effect these verses may have had.

Alliteration

Alliteration

Alliteration is the repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of a syllable. In addition, any syllable that begins with a vowel alliterates with any other syllable that begins with a vowel. In Old English poetry, only the alliteration of lifts is significant. The combinations sc, sp and st may alliterate only with themselves. In most poems, however, ġ can alliterate with g and ċ with c. The italic letters in this list alliterate:

clyppe	cysse
ġeþōht	þenċan
ēadiġ	ġeendod
foremihtiġ	fēond
ġecunnod	ċēole
gōd	ġeogoð

These words, on the other hand, contain sounds that you might expect to alliterate, but do not:

ġehāten	ġēar
foremihtig	mǣre
forweorðan	fēond
stān	sāriġ
scōp	sǣ

In each poetic line, one or two lifts in the on-verse must alliterate with the first lift in the off-verse. The second lift in the off-verse normally does not alliterate with any of the three other stressed syllables in the line. These lines illustrate the three patterns:[1]

xa|ay: þ×æt (/)biþ ×in e/orl×e    /indr\yht×en þē/aw

ax|ay: þ×æt h×ē h×is f/erðl\oc×an    f/æst×e b/ind×e

aa|ax: n×e s×e hrē/o h/yġ×e    h/elp×e ġ×efr/emm×an

• It is customary to mark a lift with a stroke. A backward stroke (\) marks a half-lift, and × marks an unstressed syllable, part of a drop. In this book, a stroke in parentheses marks a syllable that one would expect to receive metrical stress even though the rules of Old English accentuation indicate that it should not be stressed (seebelow).

The pattern xa|ay occurs mostly when the first lift in a verse is weak (as when it is a syllable of a finite verb). When the first lift is strong (as when it is a syllable of a noun, adjective or verbal), it normallymust alliterate, so the pattern will be ax|ay or aa|ax. A competent poet would not write a line like this one:

n×e s×e w/ō h/iġ×e    h/elp×e ġ×efr/emm×an

Occasionally you will meet with transverse alliteration (the pattern ab|ab) and crossed alliteration(ab|ba). These probably were regarded as especially ornate:

Þǣr æt hȳðe stōd   hringedstefna

brūnfāgne helm,   hringde byrnan

(Beowulf, ll. 32, 2615)

Other unusual kinds of alliteration (such as syllables in the drop alliterating with a lift) are probably incidental and without metrical significance.

Meter

The Anglo-Saxons wrote what we call alliterative poetry after its most salient feature, the system of alliteration that binds its verses together and is largely responsible for its distinctive sound. Similar metrical systems are found in Old Icelandic, Old Saxon and Old High German: all of these cultures inherited a common Germanic meter, which they adapted as their languages and cultures changed. English poets continued to write alliterative poetry as late as the fifteenth century, and the meter has often been revived—most notably by the twentieth-century poet Ezra Pound.

There is more to Old English meter than alliteration. The poetry also employed a strict rhythmic scheme, which you will find to be markedly different from the rhythms employed by later poets such as Chaucer and Shakespeare. These later rhythms are based on the regularly timed recurrence of stressed syllables in the line. In Old English meter, the line consists of two verses (also called half-lines) divided by a syntactical boundary called a caesura. Each verse must conform to one of five rhythmic patterns (ortypes, as they are generally called), which we designate with the letters A-E. Verses of all types have in common that they always (well, almost always) contain two stressed syllables, called lifts, and two or more groups of unstressed syllables, called drops. The arrangement of lifts and drops depends on the type. The lifts do not necessarily come at regular intervals.

Why some rhythmic patterns were permissible in Old English poetry while others were forbidden is a subject of vigorous debate among scholars. The answer, if we had it, might tell us why the permissible rhythms sounded “good,” or sounded “like poetry.” At present the most plausible theory is that the rhythms of poetry were based on those of ordinary speech, but with added rules that enabled listeners to recognize the boundaries between verses and lines. In much the same way, we can recognize the organization of Shakespearean blank verse when we hear actors recite it, even though there are no rhymes to tell us where the lines end.

Modern editions of Old English poetry print it as you have seen it in this book, in long lines with the caesura marked by a space. You should be aware, though, that in Old English manuscripts the poetry is not broken into lines, but rather written continuously, like prose. Like other editorial conventions (such as the use of modern capitalization and punctuation), the arrangement of poetic lines in printed editions is a compromise: it makes Old English texts more accessible to modern readers, but it conceals some interesting characteristics of Old English manuscript culture. You should track down a facsimile of the manuscript of a poem you are reading

Study Notes for TAKS

Study Notes for TAKS

Multiple Choice Questions

Read each question completely

Underline your evidence

Eliminate possible wrong answers

Take your time and stay calm

If you are unsure, pick which is most right

Use context clues

Short Answer Essay Questions

Read the question completely

Your answer should relate to the question

Each answer should have 5 or more sentences

Use quotes to support your answer, at least 2

Write which paragraph you found it in

Reread your answer to make sure it makes sense

Make any corrections necessary

The Essay for 10^th thru Exit

Read the prompt completely

Make sure your essay relates to the topic

Be Specific

Use Details

Write a minimum of 5 paragraphs

Use 5 or more sentences in each paragraph

Use your own experiences

Write complete sentences

Reread your work and make any corrections

The night before the test

Eat a good dinner

Go to bed early

Try to have a good breakfast

Arrive to school on time

Write like you read and not like you talk

Look for:

            Setting – time and place

            Characters – Main and supporting, antagonist and protagonist

            Conflict / Resolution – The problem and its conclusion

            Theme – Universal message

            Plot – the series of events in the story including introduction, climax / turning             point, and the conclusion

            Point of View – first person: I or we, third person: use of characters names,               omniscient: all seeing

            Mood - Tone that is set by time and place, use of figurative language

            Foreshadowing – Hints to what is to come next or soon in the story

            Flashback – Interrupts a story and relates to a previous event

            Irony – the difference in what appears to be and what really is

            Dialogue – written conversation between two or more characters

            Symbolism – a symbol that stands for something beyond the obvious

Read between the lines and make inferences

Make predictions

Look for comparisons and contrasts between the two stories

Draw a venn diagram

Make an outline

Compose on the scrap paper

Use persuasion in your paper

Organize your written work

Check mechanics

Read everything you write back to yourself

Create a Story

Story Bird


Please go to this link and pick a picture to write a short story and poem about.  Stories should be no less than 10  pages long and the introduction should include a poem based on the picture you choose and the story you have created.  This is a two grade project so in total worth 200 points.  You will need to create an account.  If you have questions then please contact me.


Good Luck

In awe

I just found this to be awsome...This was great.....feel free to share



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVTga6GmbGw&feature=related

Resources Galore

I found this site looking for SAT resources and came across many items that I thought I would share with the rest of you.  It was free for me to join and if you have any trouble finding the resources feel free to come and ask.  It has videos and templates, many blank organizers and covers all subjects.  Let me know what you think!!

http://www.achievementfirst.org/resources/resources-landing/

STAAR EOC English I and English II Training

   What a delightful training session.  After years of going to in-services and feeling disappointed when I left because I had not learned anything new there finally comes a training session which is not only new but has the most updated information around.  This is real life stuff you can use in the classroom with supporting information that can only increase the value of the education that our students receive.

This site has all the grade level and course curriculum you might need to prepare for your teaching.  These are the same ones as out fearless leader gave us during in-service.


http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/staar/

This site has even more information about what TEKS fit where and which work best.

http://portal.esc20.net/portal/page/portal/esc20public/Curriculum%20Forum/STAAR%20Quick%20Reference%20Guides?_piref130_1528264_130_1504884_1504884.tabstring=Math%20Tab

Overall I was pleasantly pleased with all the information I obtained and look forward to the next training session.

Alice in Wonderland (Disney) - The Walrus and the Carpenter

This little diddy was successful for Disney but left a lot out from the original text which is listed bel

Walrus and the Carpenter

The Walrus and The Carpenter

Lewis Carroll

(from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872)

The sun was shining on the sea,

Shining with all his might:

He did his very best to make

The billows smooth and bright--

And this was odd, because it was

The middle of the night.

The moon was shining sulkily,

Because she thought the sun

Had got no business to be there

After the day was done--

"It's very rude of him," she said,

"To come and spoil the fun!"

The sea was wet as wet could be,

The sands were dry as dry.

You could not see a cloud, because

No cloud was in the sky:

No birds were flying overhead--

There were no birds to fly.

The Walrus and the Carpenter

Were walking close at hand;

They wept like anything to see

Such quantities of sand:

"If this were only cleared away,"

They said, "it would be grand!"

"If seven maids with seven mops

Swept it for half a year.

Do you suppose," the Walrus said,

"That they could get it clear?"

"I doubt it," said the Carpenter,

And shed a bitter tear.

"O Oysters, come and walk with us!"

The Walrus did beseech.

"A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk,

Along the briny beach:

We cannot do with more than four,

To give a hand to each."

The eldest Oyster looked at him,

But never a word he said:

The eldest Oyster winked his eye,

And shook his heavy head--

Meaning to say he did not choose

To leave the oyster-bed.

But four young Oysters hurried up,

All eager for the treat:

Their coats were brushed, their faces washed,

Their shoes were clean and neat--

And this was odd, because, you know,

They hadn't any feet.

Four other Oysters followed them,

And yet another four;

And thick and fast they came at last,

And more, and more, and more--

All hopping through the frothy waves,

And scrambling to the shore.

The Walrus and the Carpenter

Walked on a mile or so,

And then they rested on a rock

Conveniently low:

And all the little Oysters stood

And waited in a row.

"The time has come," the Walrus said,

"To talk of many things:

Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--

Of cabbages--and kings--

And why the sea is boiling hot--

And whether pigs have wings."

"But wait a bit," the Oysters cried,

"Before we have our chat;

For some of us are out of breath,

And all of us are fat!"

"No hurry!" said the Carpenter.

They thanked him much for that.

"A loaf of bread," the Walrus said,

"Is what we chiefly need:

Pepper and vinegar besides

Are very good indeed--

Now if you're ready, Oysters dear,

We can begin to feed."

"But not on us!" the Oysters cried,

Turning a little blue.

"After such kindness, that would be

A dismal thing to do!"

"The night is fine," the Walrus said.

"Do you admire the view?

"It was so kind of you to come!

And you are very nice!"

The Carpenter said nothing but

"Cut us another slice:

I wish you were not quite so deaf--

I've had to ask you twice!"

"It seems a shame," the Walrus said,

"To play them such a trick,

After we've brought them out so far,

And made them trot so quick!"

The Carpenter said nothing but

"The butter's spread too thick!"

"I weep for you," the Walrus said:

"I deeply sympathize."

With sobs and tears he sorted out

Those of the largest size,

Holding his pocket-handkerchief

Before his streaming eyes.

"O Oysters," said the Carpenter,

"You've had a pleasant run!

Shall we be trotting home again?'

But answer came there none--

And this was scarcely odd, because

They'd eaten every one.