Those Winter Sundays 494l63

“Those Winter Sundays” By Robert Hayden

Skill Focus Levels of Thinking

Close Reading Reading Strategies Determining Main Idea Generalization Inference Paraphrase Summary Literary Elements Character motivation Detail Diction connotation denotation vocabulary Imagery Mood Point of View person perspective Setting Style Theme Tone tone determined through diction, imagery, detail, point of view, and syntax tone shift multiple tones vocabulary associated with tone Sound Devices Consonance Onomatopoeia Literary Techniques Characterization direct indirect Symbolism Literary Forms Verse Elements of Research Use of Print Sources

Understand

Apply

Analyze

Grammar Parts of Speech Phrases Prepositional Clauses Dependent/Subordinate Sentences Purpose declarative interrogative Structure complex Analysis of a Text Meaning and Effect related to parts of speech, phrases, clauses, sentences, and syntax

Composition Types (modes) Expository analytical The Process of Composition Prewriting generation of ideas organization of ideas Structural Elements Body incorporation of quotes topic sentence use of commentary use of evidence

Materials and Resources • “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden, included ®

Copyright © 2010 Laying the Foundation , Inc., Dallas, TX. All rights reserved. Visit: www.layingthefoundation.org

Teacher Overview—“Those Winter Sundays”

Lesson Introduction This lesson guides students through an analysis of a poem that explores the relationship between the speaker and his father. Close reading activities focus on connotative diction, imagery, and sound devices that help students discern the speaker and his perspective, the setting, and the atmosphere. Students analyze sentence structures and examine words that have more than one meaning and that can be used as different parts of speech to unlock meaning in the poem. The lesson culminates with a writing activity in which students discuss the speaker’s shift in attitude toward his father.

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“Those Winter Sundays” By Robert Hayden

Pre-Reading Activity In this lesson you will analyze a poem called “Those Winter Sundays.” Think about what this title means to you. In the space below, write two or three sentences describing a typical “winter Sunday” at your house.

Read carefully the poem “Those Winter Sundays” and answer the questions that follow.

Sundays too my father got up early and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold, then with cracked hands that ached from labor in the weekday weather made banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.

(5)

I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking. When the rooms were warm, he’d call, and slowly I would rise and dress, fearing the chronic angers of that house, Speaking indifferently to him, who had driven out the cold and polished my good shoes as well. What did I know, what did I know of love’s austere and lonely offices?

(10)

“Those Winter Sundays” from COLLECTED POEMS OF ROBERT HAYDEN by Robert Hayden, edited by Fredrick Glaysher. Copyright © 1966 by Robert Hayden. Reprinted with permission of Liveright Publishing Corporation. ® Copyright © 2010 Laying the Foundation , Inc., Dallas, TX. All rights reserved. Visit: www.layingthefoundation.org

Student Activity—“Those Winter Sundays”

Activity One: Paraphrasing 1. Using a slash mark (/), indicate the end of each sentence in this poem. How many sentences are there? 2. The first sentence of the poem provides some very important information about the speaker’s father, but the structure of this sentence is somewhat complex. Read this sentence again: Sundays too my father got up early and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold, then with cracked hands that ached from labor in the weekday weather made banked fires blaze. a. If we eliminate the subordinate clause describing the father’s hands (“that ached/from labor in the weekday weather”) and the prepositional phrases (“in the blueblack cold” and “with cracked hands”), we are left with this kernel sentence: Sundays too my father got up early and put his clothes on, then made banked fires blaze. To be sure you understand what this sentence means, first find and underline once the subject of the sentence and underline twice each verb in the main clause.

b. Now look carefully at the words that remain. The first word in the sentence reminds us that these actions took place on Sunday. What is the significance of the word “too” immediately following “Sundays”?

What specific actions took place on “Sundays too”?

What kind of fire is a “banked fire”? Why is it important that the father made these fires “blaze”?

Why did the father get up “early” to make these “banked fires blaze”?

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c. Now look at the subordinate clause that describes the father’s hands: “that ached/from labor in the weekday weather.” What connotations does the word “labor” have that another word like “work” would not have?

What does the phrase “in the weekday weather” suggest about the kind of work the father did? Why do you suppose the father’s hands “ached” when he built up the fire?

Notice that the word “cold,” which is often an adjective, is used in this sentence as a noun, the object of the preposition “in.”

3. In your own words, paraphrase this first sentence of the poem.

4. Now paraphrase each of the other sentences in the poem.

5. Write one or two complete sentences to answer this question: Who do you think the speaker in the poem is? Include details in the poem for .

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Activity Two: Diction 1. In the chart below, list all of the verbs (not participles) in the poem. Present tense verbs

Past tense verbs

Future tense verbs

2. What tense are most of the verbs in the poem? What does this tell you about the events being described in the poem?

What additional information does this give you about the speaker in the poem?

3. List below all of the nouns in this poem. (Hint: There are 15.) Circle the one that is repeated several times.

What connotations does this repeated noun have for you?

Why do you think the writer might have wanted to repeat it in the poem?

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Synaesthesia is a literary device in which one kind of sensation is described in of another—sounds or odors might be described using colors, etc. For example, sad music might be described as being “blue.” 4. Find an example in the poem of a word that is used to describe the cold by appealing to a different sense.

How does the use of this word heighten the feeling of coldness in the poem?

5. Look carefully at this phrase from line 14: “love’s austere and lonely offices.” Following are some definitions for the word “office.” 1 the place where an individual or organization conducts its business, or those who work there 2 a federal agency in the U.S. government, beneath a department in rank 3 a position in a corporate or governmental organization, especially one entailing authority, responsibility, or trust 4 an act, usually a favor or service, done for another a. Which definition of “office” seems to fit the context of the poem best? Justify your answer.

Following are some definitions for the word “austere.” 1 severe in manner or appearance; uncompromising; strict; forbidding 2 rigorously self-disciplined; abstinent 3 grave; sober; solemn; serious 4 without excess, luxury, or ease; simple; severe b. Which definition of “austere” seems to fit the context of the poem best? Justify your answer.

6. Go back to Activity 1 and read your paraphrase of the final two lines of the poem. Would you paraphrase these lines differently now? Explain your answer.

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7. Look carefully at lines 8–9: “and slowly I would rise and dress,/fearing the chronic angers of that house.” Look up the word “chronic” in a dictionary and write the definition that best fits the meaning of this word as it is used in the poem.

___________________________________________________________________________ a. What are some possible causes for the “chronic anger” in the house?

b. Which reason do you think makes the most sense in the context of the poem? Justify your answer.

___________________________________________________________________________ c. Draw a symbol that could represent the idea of “chronic anger.” Be prepared to explain your symbolism.

Activity Three: Syntax 1. How is the sentence that begins and ends in line 5 different from the other sentences in the poem?

2. How does this sentence make you feel about the relationship between the father and the speaker?

How do you think the speaker feels about the fact stated in this sentence?

3. How is the sentence in lines 13–14 different from the other sentences in the poem?

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To whom do you think this sentence is addressed? Why?

4. What words are repeated in this sentence? How does the repetition of these words affect the tone of the poem?

5. How is the sentence in lines 13–14 connected to the sentence in line 5?

Activity Four: Sound Devices 1. In Activity 2 you noted the repetition of the word “cold.” List below other words from the poem that include the hard “c” or “k” sound. Some have been done for you. Stanza 1: clothes, blueblack Stanza 2: Stanza 3: 2. How do these words reinforce the image of coldness in the house?

3. Look at the frequency of these words in the three stanzas. Why are there fewer of them in the third stanza than in the first stanza?

___________________________________________________________________________ Activity Five: Tone 1. Does the speaker’s attitude toward his father seem to be the same throughout the poem? If not, where does the shift in attitude occur? Explain.

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2. Complete the following paragraph by filling in the blanks with appropriate words. from his childhood.

The speaker in this poem re (adjective and noun)

He describes the

in the house, using words like (noun)

“

,” “

,” and “

(direct evidence)

(direct evidence)

These words show the

.” (direct evidence)

of the environment in which he lived. The (noun)

speaker re that, even before he got out of bed, his father would (father’s action)

and

. As a child, the speaker felt (father’s action)

toward his father’s actions, which he showed by (feeling)

(son’s action)

and

. With time, however, the speaker realizes (son’s action)

that his father’s actions showed his

for his family, and he (feeling)

regrets that “

.” (direct evidence)

When the speaker asks the question “ (direct evidence)

” at the end of the poem, the reader sees that the speaker now feels toward his father and wishes that (feeling)

(commentary based on evidence in poem)

.

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