understanding shakespeare “when icicles hang by the wall ......students will work through...

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English

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Understanding Shakespeare

“When icicles hang by the wall” Grade Eight

About this Lesson The activities that follow will help students begin to wrestle with complex language that may

have more than one possible interpretation or meaning. Any accessible, short Shakespearean

passage can be used to serve the same purposes. In this case, the “When icicles hang on the wall”

speech from Love’s Labor Lost allows students an opportunity to read closely and to interpret a

richly layered passage.

Passages for LTF® lessons are selected to challenge students, while lessons and activities make

texts accessible. Guided practice with challenging texts allows students to gain the proficiency

necessary to read independently at or above grade level.

This lesson is included in Module 2: Annotation and Analysis of a Text.

Technology Extension

Teachers who have website access will find an additional resource, “Technology Extension for

Understanding Shakespeare.” This lesson gives teachers a student-centered and engaging

classroom activity using technology. The students create PowerPoint presentations to illustrate

imagery in the selected poem or text. The product demonstrates student understanding of

imagery through strategic use of digital media and visual displays.

Objectives

Students will

demonstrate close reading skills through such strategies as determining author‟s purpose,

making inferences, and paraphrasing.

explain the effect of literary elements in the passage.

demonstrate understanding of sound devices.

produce style analysis of the passage.

Level

Grade Eight

Connection to Common Core Standards for English Language

The activities in this lesson allow teachers to address the following Common Core Standards for

the Eighth Grade:

Explicitly addressed in this lesson

Code CCSS Level of

Thinking

Depth of

Knowledge

RL.8.1 Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports

an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as

inferences drawn from the text.

Understand III

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Teacher Overview—Understanding Shakespeare

“When icicles hang by the wall”

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RL.8.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and

analyze its development over the course of the text,

including its relationship to the characters, setting,

and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.

Analyze III

RL.8.3 Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or

incidents in a story or drama propel the action,

reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.

Analyze III

RL.8.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as

they are used in a text, including figurative and

connotative meanings; analyze the impact of

specific word choices on meaning and tone,

including analogies or allusions to other texts.

Analyze III

RL.8.5 Compare and contrast the structure of two or more

texts and analyze how the differing structure of each

text contributes to its meaning and style.

Analyze III

RL.8.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend

literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in

the grades 6-8 text complexity band proficiently,

with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the

range.

Understand II

L.8.3 Use knowledge of language and its conventions

when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.

a. Use verbs in the active and passive voice and

in the conditional and subjunctive mood to

achieve particular effects (e.g., emphasizing

the actor or the action; expressing

uncertainty or describing a state contrary to

the fact).

Understand II

L.8.5 Demonstrate understanding of figurative language,

word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.

a. Interpret figures of speech (e.g., verbal irony,

puns) in context.

b. Use the relationship between particular

words to better understand each of the

words.

c. Distinguish among the connotations

(associations) of words with similar

denotations (definitions) (e.g., bullheaded,

willful, firm, persistent, resolute).

Understand I

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W.8.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a

topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information

through the selection, organization, and analysis of

relevant content.

a. Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is

to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and

information, into broader categories; include

formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g.,

charts, tables), and multimedia when useful

to aiding comprehension.

b. Develop the topic with relevant, well-chosen

facts, definitions, concrete details,

quotations, or other information and

examples.

c. Use appropriate and varied transitions to

create cohesion and clarify the relationships

among ideas and concepts.

d. Use precise language and domain-specific

vocabulary to inform about or explain the

topic.

e. Establish and maintain a formal style.

f. Provide a concluding statement or section

that follows from and supports the

information or explanation presented.

Create III

W.8.10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for

research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time

frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range

of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

Apply III

SL.8.2 Analyze the purpose of information presented in

diverse media and formats (e.g., visually,

quantitatively, orally) and evaluate the motives (e.g.,

social, commercial, political) behind its

presentation.

Evaluate III

Implicitly addressed in lesson Code CCSS Level of

Thinking

Depth of

Knowledge

RL.8.7 Analyze the extent to which a filmed or live

production of a story or drama stays faithful to or

departs from the text or script, evaluating the

choices made by the director or actors.

Evaluate III

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L.8.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of

standard English grammar and usage when writing

or speaking.

b. Form and use verbs in the active and passive

voice.

c. Form and use verbs in the indicative,

imperative, interrogative, conditional, and

subjective mood.

d. Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in

verb voice and mood.

Understand I

L.8.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of

standard English capitalization, punctuation, and

spelling when writing.

a. Use punctuation (comma, ellipsis, dash) to

indicate a pause or break.

b. Use an ellipsis to indicate an omission.

c. Spell correctly.

Understand I

L.8.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and

multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade

8 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a

range of strategies.

a. Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a

sentence or paragraph; a word‟s position or

function in a sentence) as a clue to the

meaning of a word or phrase.

b. Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or

Latin affixes and roots as clues to the

meaning of a word (e.g., precede, recede,

secede).

c. Consult general and specialized reference

materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries,

thesauruses), both print and digital, to find

the pronunciation of a word or determine or

clarify its precise meaning or its part of

speech.

d. Verify the preliminary determination of the

meaning of a word or phrase (e.g., by

checking the inferred meaning in context or

in a dictionary).

Understand I

L.8.6 Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate

general academic and domain-specific words and

phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when

considering a word or phrase important to

comprehension or expression.

Understand II

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W.8.1 Write arguments to support claims with clear

reasons and relevant evidence.

a. Introduce claim(s), acknowledge and

distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or

opposing claims, and organize the reasons

and evidence logically.

b. Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and

relevant evidence, using accurate, credible

sources and demonstrating an understanding

of the topic or text.

c. Use words, phrases, and clauses to create

cohesion and clarify the relationships among

claims(s), counterclaims, reasons, and

evidence.

d. Establish and maintain a formal style.

e. Provide a concluding statement or section

that follows from and supports the argument

presented.

Create IV

W.8.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the

development, organization, and style are appropriate

to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific

expectations for writing types are defined in

standards 1-3 above.)

Create III

W.8.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts

to support analysis, reflection, and research.

a. Apply grade 8 Reading standards to

literature (e.g., “Analyze how a modern work

of fiction draws on themes, patterns of

events, or character types from myths,

traditional stories, or religious works such as

the Bible, including describing how the

material is rendered new”).

b. Apply grade 8 Reading standards to literary

nonfiction (e.g., “Delineate and evaluate the

argument and specific claims in a text,

assessing whether the reasoning is sound and

the evidence is relevant and sufficient;

recognize when irrelevant evidence is

introduced”).

Analyze III

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Copyright © 2011 Laying the Foundation®, Inc., Dallas, TX. All rights reserved. Visit us online at www.ltftraining.org vi

LTF Skill Focus

The foundation for LTF English lessons is the Skill Progression Chart that identifies key skills

for each domain, beginning with grade 6 and adding more complex skills at each subsequent

grade level while reinforcing skills introduced at previous grade levels. The Skill Focus for each

individual lesson identifies the skills actually addressed in that lesson.

Levels of Thinking

Remember Understand Apply Analyze Evaluate Create

Close Reading written, spoken, and visual texts

Grammar purposeful use of language for

effect

Composition written, spoken, and visual products

Reading Strategies Determining Author‟s

Purpose

Inference

Paraphrase

Literary Elements

Diction

connotation

denotation

Imagery

Mood

Tone

Sound Devices

Rhythm

Rhyme

Literary Techniques Irony

Literary Forms

Verse

Syntax Techniques

Parallelism

Polysyndeton

Repetition

Analysis of a Text Meaning and Effect related

to parts of speech,

phrases, clauses,

sentences, and syntax

Types (modes) Expository

analytical

Connections to AP* Analysis of imagery and the literary and rhetorical devices that contribute to tone is a skill that

students must demonstrate on both the free response and multiple choice sections of AP English

Literature and AP English Language exams. The Literature exam contains a free response

prompt and multiple choice questions on poetry, so it is critical that students develop an

understanding of analysis and language specific to poetry.

*Advanced Placement and AP are registered trademarks of the College Entrance Examination Board. The College

Board was not involved in the production of this product.

Materials and Resources

Copy of the “Understanding Shakespeare” student lesson

Technology Extension available on LTF website

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Assessments The following kinds of formative assessments are embedded in this lesson:

guided questions

writing assignment

Teaching Suggestions

Students will work through activities to help them analyze diction, imagery, sound devices, and

structure in the poem taken from Love’s Labors Lost, by William Shakespeare. Teachers will

find a variety of strategies embedded in the lesson, ranging from a graphic organizer to a

paraphrasing activity.

Answers: Many of the answers for this lesson are subjective and will vary. The following

suggestions are offered to guide teachers in determining acceptable answers, but, to obtain the

maximum benefit of the lesson, teachers should ask students to go beyond the expected response.

1. Look up the word “brooding.” Based on the context, what two different definitions of the

word might Shakespeare want readers to consider? Answers will vary.

One definition of “to brood” is to sit on or hatch eggs, so Shakespeare may be creating an

image of birds actually sitting on nests of eggs in the snow. Another definition of “to

brood” is to loom or to hover over, with a fairly negative connotation as in “to threaten.”

This is a possibility as well, although there‟s little evidence of the birds posing a threat. A

third definition of “to brood” is to meditate or to think moodily about something.

Shakespeare may also have wanted readers to personify these birds who must stay

outdoors in such foul weather, as if they might be pouting or dismayed over having to

endure the snow and cold.

2. Why would a poet choose to use a word with multiple meanings? Answers will vary.

Poets use specially chosen words for effect and to suggest multiple layers of meaning

through the various denotations. These double- and triple-meaning words are interesting

in their complexity. Everyone makes the connection of “brooding” and birds sitting on a

nest full of eggs, but then we consider an alternate meaning and realize we‟re not quite

sure what the author actually intended, and if he intended many different meanings at the

same time, well, isn‟t that clever? Poets play with words, sometimes for the sake of

enhanced powers of suggestion, sometimes for an ironic effect, sometimes simply to raise

a question in the reader‟s mind.

3. What is ironic about the use of the words “merry” and “sings” when describing the sound the

owl makes? Answers will vary.

The owl is a nocturnal hunter and his purpose for staying awake is to prey on rodents and

other small creatures for his dinner. So in many ways, his “song” is a death-noise, hardly

merry. In some cultures, the song of the owl signals impending death of a person nearby,

and many believe the owl calls the name of the soul of one who will soon depart this

earth, as in Margaret Craven‟s novel I Heard the Owl Call My Name. Many other

cultures around the world view the owl and his song as harbingers of evil and doom. So

to refer to his song as “merry” is contradictory to the typical view.

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4. Fill in the chart with images that appeal to the different senses. Answers will vary.

Sight “icicles hang”

“Dick the shepherd blows his nail”

“milk comes frozen home in pail”

“greasy Joan doth keel the pot”

“birds sit brooding”

“Marian‟s nose looks red and raw”

Touch “blood is nipped”

“greasy Joan”

Taste

Smell “ways be foul”

“greasy Joan”

Hearing “nightly sings the staring owl”

“Tu-whit, to-who!”

“the wind doth blow”

“coughing drowns the parson‟s saw”

“roasted crabs hiss in the bowl”

5. Highlight in yellow the images that suggest a positive feeling.

6. Highlight in green the images that suggest a negative feeling.

7. Based on the images, what inferences can you make about the speaker‟s attitude toward

winter?

The speaker seems to associate the cold of winter with all things unpleasant. The milk

freezes in the pail before being carried to the kitchen from the barn, and the women are

either greasy (because it‟s probably too cold to bathe) or have raw, red noses on their

less-than-pretty faces. He even states directly “ways be foul.” The only somewhat

uplifting image is the sound of the owl, but ironically the “merry” song is quite likely a

harbinger of death. The wind blows hard, everyone‟s blood is freezing, and coughing and

accompanying illness all contribute to the misery of the winter months.

8. Shakespeare uses concrete images to show rather than tell what winter is like. Complete

the following on a separate sheet of paper.

a. Rewrite this poem as a paragraph telling about winter. Answers will vary.

b. Explain why it is more interesting to read something that shows rather than tells.

Answers will vary.

c. Describe summer by showing it through concrete images, rather than telling about it.

Answers will vary.

9. What rhyming pattern appears in the first six lines?

a-b-a-b-c-c

10. Is this pattern repeated in lines 10-15? Justify your answer.

Yes. The pattern is a-b-a-b-c-c again.

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11. Slant rhyme or approximate rhyme occurs when words almost rhyme. Often these words

look like they rhyme, but do not sound the same. Quote an example of slant rhyme from

the poem.

“A merry note,/While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.”

12. A refrain is a repeated line or group of lines in a word or poem. Quote the refrain from

“When icicles hang by the wall.”

“Then nightly sings the staring owl,

„Tu-whit, tu-who!”

A merry note,

While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.”

13. What is the effect of the refrain on the mood? Answers will vary.

The refrain interjects a more light-hearted image with the actual “merry” sound of the

owl and continues with a somewhat humorous or mocking image of a “greasy Joan”

stirring the pot. The other images before the refrain in each stanza are negative and

unpleasant.

14. Study the first word of each line of the poem. Write three observations about the

structure.

Answers will vary.

a. The poem is based on a list of various images.

b. The structure is based upon cause and effect (When, and, and, and, then…).

c. The second stanza is structurally a mirror image of the first stanza and accomplishes

exactly the same thing the first stanza accomplishes.

15. Select one observation above and explain how or why the structure adds to the effect of

the poem. Answers will vary.

The listing of the many images, almost all of which are quite unpleasant to contemplate,

emphasizes the bitterness of winter and all that human beings (at least in Shakespeare‟s

time) had to endure. Winter consists of one obstacle after another for most. Even the call

of the owl signaling impending death might provide hope for relief from the pain of life

in the world of winter.

16. Write a paragraph in which you explain how Shakespeare‟s choice of images reflects his

attitude toward winter. Answers will vary.

English

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Understanding Shakespeare: “When icicles hang by the wall” Grade Eight

Read the poem/song below and paraphrase it line by line. Answer the questions that follow.

Poem Paraphrase

When icicles hang by the wall,

And Dick the shepherd blows his nail,

And Tom bears logs into the hall,

And milk comes frozen home in pail,

5 When blood is nipped, and ways be foul,

Then nightly sings the staring owl,

“Tu-whit, tu-who!”

A merry note,

While greasy Joan doth keel* the pot.

10 When all aloud the wind doth blow,

And coughing drowns the parson’s saw*,

And birds sit brooding in the snow,

And Marian’s nose looks red and raw,

When roasted crabs* hiss in the bowl,

15 Then nightly sings the staring owl,

“Tu-whit, tu-who!”

A merry note,

While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.

*keel – cool by stirring

*saw – wise saying

*crabs – crab apples

Diction

1. Look up the word “brooding.” Based on the context, what two different definitions of the

word might Shakespeare want readers to consider?

2. Why would a poet choose to use a word with multiple meanings?

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Student Activity—Understanding Shakespeare “When icicles hang by the wall”


3. What is ironic about the use of the words “merry” and “sings” when describing the sound the

owl makes?

Imagery

4. Fill in the chart with images that appeal to the different senses.

Sense First Stanza Second Stanza Sight

Touch

Taste

Smell

Hearing

5. Highlight in yellow the images that suggest a positive feeling.

6. Highlight in green the images that suggest a negative feeling.

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7. Based on the images, what inferences can you make about the speaker’s attitude toward

winter? Justify your answer.

8. Shakespeare uses concrete images to show rather than tell what winter was like. Complete the

following on a separate sheet of paper.

a. Rewrite this poem as a paragraph telling about winter.

b. Explain why it is more interesting to read something that shows rather than tells.

c. Describe summer by showing it through concrete images, rather than telling about it.

Musical or Sound Devices

9. What rhyming pattern appears in the first six lines?

10. Is this pattern repeated in lines 10–15? Justify your answer.

11. Slant rhyme or approximate rhyme occurs when words almost rhyme. Often these words look

like they rhyme, but do not sound the same. Quote an example of slant rhyme from the poem.

12. A refrain is a repeated line or group of lines in a word or poem. Quote the refrain from

“When icicles hang by the wall.”

13. What is the effect of the refrain on the mood?

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Structure

14. Study the first word of each line of the poem. Write three observations about the structure.

a.

b.

c.

15. Select one of the observations above and explain how or why the structure adds to the effect

of the poem.

16. Write a paragraph in which you explain how Shakespeare’s choice of images reflects his

attitude toward winter.

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