Day 2: Caribbean Poetry

English II: World Literature

Warm-UpRead closely the end of the poem we analyzed

yesterday “The Sea is History.” On your own warm-up paper, annotate the ending of the poem and answer the following question:

Using literary techniques such as imagery, repetition, and metaphor, how does the poet convey his attitude toward “Emancipation” and “History”?

Then came the white sisters clappingto the waves’ progress,and that was the Emancipation— jubilation, O jubilation—vanishing swiftlyas the sea’s lace dries in the sun, but that was not History,that was only faith,and then each rock broke into its own nation; then came the synod[1] of flies,then came the secretarial heron,then came the bullfrog bellowing for a vote, fireflies with bright ideasand bats like jetting ambassadorsand the mantis, like khaki police, and the furred caterpillars of judgesexamining each case closely,and then in the dark ears of ferns and in the salt chuckle of rockswith their sea pools, there was the soundlike a rumour without any echo of History, really beginning.

[1] a meeting of church leaders

Agenda• Warm-up• Literary Terms Review• Caribbean History: Part 2• Read, analyze, discuss

poems• Exit ticket• HW: Prepare seminar

questions for seminar discussion tomorrow!

Literary Terms: ReviewDirections: Record the following notes on your “Literary Terms Dictionary” handout.

Literary Term DefinitionExample

1. repetition the deliberate use of any element of language more than once

2. alliteration the repetition of initial consonant sounds

3. rhyme the repetition of sounds in 2 or more words that

appear close to each other in a poem

Literary Terms: ReviewLiterary Term Definition

Example4. rhythm The varying speed, loudness, pitch,

elevationintensity, and

expressiveness of speech, esp.in poetry.

5. tone the writer or speaker’s attitude toward a subject;

good writers often use MULTIPLE tones at once!

Caribbean History: ReviewFrom Yesterday: • Pre-Columbus • 1492• the transatlantic

slave trade• The Middle

Passage

Slave Trade from Africa to the Americas: 1650-1860

Slavery: Daily Life• often worked on plantations (sugar,

coffee, livestock, among others), house servants, cooks, and so fortho most profitable crops (sugar)

were also the deadliest o sugar plantations most

dangerous places to be slaveso heavy manual labor done by

work gangs• many slaves died of:

o diseaseo overworko malnourishment

“American planters would exhaust the slaves’ lives as productive capacity, grinding them into sugar, coffee, and other crops for export, primarily to Europe, where they would indeed be consumed--but only if they could survive their initial adjustment to slave society. For all its economic success as an outpost of empire, Jamaica routinely destroyed its black people”--Vince Brown, The Reaper’s Garden

Jamaica Sugar Plantation, 1909

Slavery: Daily Life, cont. • famines, epidemics, and

hurricanes were frequent • High death rates contributed

to “success” of slave trade -- there was a constant demand for more slaves

• Society driven and sustained by death o importance of funerals o “death” industryo legacy & inheritance o social disruption

Contemplating Effects of Slavery• loss of “home,” roots

(diaspora)• disintegration and

redefinition of family structureo Families often divided on

to separate plantations • culture of death • power dynamics

o majority slave population; minority white slaveholder population

• How is culture created? Is it African? European? Or something new?

End of the Transatlantic slave trade• British Caribbean slavery

ends August 1, 1838• treaties signed with

European countries, Caribbean colonies, and African nations/kingdoms

• Over 12 million people were removed from Africa and brought to other parts of the world during the slave tradeo How has this affected

society and the modern world?

Exit Ticket On a notecard or scrap piece of paper, answer the following question:

What is one question, concern, doubt, or comment you have from our last two days of class? If you have no questions, write ONE thing you have learned about Caribbean history or poetry over the last two class periods!

Bibliography• Brown, Vincent. The Reaper’s Garden. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2008. Print.

• Dubois, Laurent. Avengers of the New World. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2004. Print.

• The AP Vertical Teams Guide for English. New York: College Entrance Examination Board, 2002. Print.