Teaching Backwards
The Poetry of Robert Frost
[Editor's note: What follows was an attempt to test the two writing strategies referenced in the previous article (process vs. mimesis) against each other. A 7th grade teacher had run a process writing unit on a novel called "Birdy." She then ran a unit I wrote on Robert Frost's poetry, using the 'Teaching Backwards" lesson design and mimetic theory of writing. The article below summarizes the results.}
In a recent weblog entry I speculated that writing produced from models with little explicit instruction would be far superior to process writing, the kind advocated by Jane Schaeffer and in use in many middle and high school classrooms. I recruited a teacher of 7th graders to run such an experimental unit after I had observed the outstanding job she had done with process writing. I photo-copied the final papers and asked to also photo-copy the final product of writing from models. I wrote an 8-day unit on the poetry of Robert Frost and also wrote the explications to be used by the students as models. I also incorporated the strategy of ‘teaching backwards,’ the emphasis being placed on students encountering learning from text first. The unit plan began with these assumptions:
The over-all objective of this writing unit will be:
1. To increase the extent to which students can learn from text, not talk. All direct instruction will take place via text. [Students can and should learn from text, but they are not used to learning this way. It may take several days before they become accustomed to learning this way.]
2. To gain an appreciation of poetry in general and Robert Frost’s poetry in particular.
3. To understand the basic elements of poetic text, such as verse, lines, rhyme, meter, imagery and figurative language.
4. To become more powerful writers by exposure to models and to use the act of writing to discover ideas and shape thinking.
The basic pedagogy can be described as follows:
1. The students must encounter all, or nearly all, concepts from text first. If students do not understand the text, the first intervention is to have them return to the text for a second reading. Students should be encouraged to go beyond two readings, if necessary, and to mark up text as a way of entering it. It is crucial that students become independent learners and able to master text independently if they are to be successful in academic life. Every effort should be made to hold students to this high standard.
2. There will be a subset of students who are consistently confused by text and cannot proceed without scaffolding. Once a teacher has determined that a student fits this description, scaffold as necessary. However, a scaffold is a temporary support. The goal should be to remove the scaffold as soon as the student can function without it. Test routinely for independence. There may be an even smaller subset of students who will need some scaffolding at the beginning of the unit, but who can abandon it as they proceed.
3. Teacher modeling is crucial in this kind of learning. Read when the students read and write when the students write. Feel free to share your writing after students have shared theirs.
4. The premise of this kind of writing instruction is that logic is embedded in the grammar of language; it does not need to be explicitly taught to most students and most will absorb the logic of writing by exposure to good models. Student writing is a function of wide reading. The more a student reads and studies good writing, the more exposure he has to strong models and the more likely he is to embed good writing techniques. Again, there will be a subset of students for whom this does not happen, or happens at a much slower rate. Scaffolding, in the form of temporary supports, are needed here, but continually test for independence.
5. Avoid TELLING students the right answer, or how to proceed. Try to transfer instructions to text and have students learn by decoding and comprehending text.
When the unit concluded, I asked the teacher to write a reflection. Here is what she wrote:
"This unit was difficult for me to teach at first. It is so hard for a control freak to give up control! My students also struggled in the beginning; they were frustrated because I would not answer their questions, but rather made them read and reread until an answer presented itself. Notice I said "an" answer. Even at the end of the unit, my kids were not always correct in their interpretations. However, they became very adept a justifying their thinking and connecting individual thoughts to the larger picture. They also impressed me with their ability to take the academic language from the explications I provided and use similar language in their own explications. Answers went from, "This poem stinks. I think it's about someone who likes fire," to "Although this was a challenging poem, I believe Frost was trying to express..." Quite a bit of improvement! I think the concept of reading, rereading, and rereading again was critical to success. Students resisted at first, but they soon began to follow these steps without prompting from me. I even heard students whispering to each other, "How many times did you read it?" The room was filled with sounds of "Oh, I get it!" It was very encouraging!
Without hesitation, I can say that I will be teaching this unit again in the future. I made some notes to myself along the way in regards to adaptations for next year. For example, I will give a brief introduction to the unit in which I discover student's prior knowledge and discuss poetic terms. Initially, I was hesitant because of the high level of reading and writing presented in the unit. I have never been so happy to be proved wrong! All of my students made tremendous improvements. 100%...how often can a teacher say that?
As a matter of fact, I would be very interested in another Farrell creation for 8th grade. My colleagues agree. I'm not sharing with the other grade levels yet(; This was a great experience, Jack. Thanks for the faith and the confidence. I feel like a better teacher for having taught this unit."
Comparing the process writing with modeling became a bit like comparing apples with oranges. The process writing was multi-draft in nature and there was considerable opportunity for students to remove errors and revise to improve their pieces. The writing from models was first-draft, timed writing in the classroom, responding to material encountered for the first time. Having said that, though, I was impressed by the authenticity of the voice, the use of academic language and the internal logic of the prose found in the student writing responding to models. While the process writing was sound, and virtually error free, I found the writing to be artificial, formulaic and voiceless. The logic was directly derived from the graphic organizers used as pre-writing activities. This is not an indictment of the teacher in any way. The same teacher taught both units. I consider the process writing model to be fatally flawed and the writing from models approach to be a superior alternative.
Provided below are the writing samples from two students. Keep in mind that the process writing assignment was multi-draft and about a novel studied in class. The 2nd writing sample was produced in class and was an analysis of a poem "The Sound of Trees" the students had never seen before. Their own preparation was the previous work they had done on Frost's poems.
The Sound of Trees
by Robert Frost
Directions: One critical view of Frost the poet is: Frost’s poems often move from an event or an object through a metaphor to an idea in a smooth, uninterrupted flow. Within this pattern, Frost usually describes a complete event rather than a single vision. The heart of the process is the image or metaphor. Frost himself saw the metaphor as the beginning of the process.
Examine the following poem. Is it an example of Frost locating an object or an event and then moving through a metaphor to an idea in a smooth, uninterrupted flow? Analyze and explain in detail. Your analysis should display thinking on paper.
The Sound of Trees
I wonder about the trees.
Why do we wish to bear
Forever the noise of these
More than another noise
So close to our dwelling place?
We suffer them by the day
Till we lose all measure of pace,
And fixity in our joys,
And acquire a listening air.
They are that that talks of going
But never gets away;
And that talks no less for knowing,
As it grows wiser and older,
That now it means to stay.
My feet tug at the floor
And my head sways to my shoulder
Sometimes when I watch trees sway,
From the window or the door.
I shall set forth for somewhere,
I shall make the reckless choice
Some day when they are in voice
And tossing so as to scare
The white clouds over them on.
I shall have less to say,
But I shall be gone.N
ame: _________________________Assign
The way the Teaching Backwards lesson design works is the student writes in class to a text they have not seen before, but one for which they have been prepared by examining similar texts. After they finish, they pick up a scoring rubric (or guide) and score themselves. Under this model, students always self-score before the teacher scores.
Scoring Rubric
2.0 Writing Applications
2.2 Write responses to literature:
a. Develop interpretations exhibiting careful reading, understanding, and insight.
b. Organize interpretations around several clear ideas, premises, or images from the
literary work.
c. Justify interpretations through sustained use of examples and textual evidence.
Poetry Students write in-class essays analyzing new material, that is a poem the student has never seen before. Students will closely read poetic text, develop understandings and write interpretations that include the technical features of poetry when relevant.
Rubric:
10 Students earning the highest score will exhibit a full understanding of the role the ‘sound of trees’ plays in the life of the poet. Frost begins his poem by wondering why humans tolerate trees so close to where they live because they can make so much noise in the wind. Another poet might have focused on the pleasant nature of the sound, but Frost finds only irony in it. The sound reminds Frost of movement, but the trees never leave. They sway, but never stray. The top scorers will recognize the usual method Frost employs here. He moves from an event in nature, the swaying of trees in the wind and the sound they make, to a negative comparison between trees and man. Trees make the sound of motion, but never leave. Men, hearing that sound, yearn to leave. At the end of the poem, Frost makes his choice: “I shall set forth somewhere/I shall make the reckless choice/Some day when they are in voice . . ./I shall have less to say/But I shall be gone.” The idea is contained in a kind of reverse metaphor: Trees make the sound of movement, but never leave. Men have much less to say, but move easily and often. Some students may mention the variable line length, from 6 to 8 syllables per line. The poem also possesses an intricate rhyme. These papers will be very well written, with only one or two minor errors.
8 Students earning this score point will correctly establish the relationship between the poet and the sound trees make in the wind, but they may not see the irony in the poem. They will follow the scheme of event to metaphor to idea that is so common in Frost’s poetry, but in a less detailed and convincing way. They may or may not make technical observations concerning meter and rhyme. These papers will be moderately well-written. Any errors will be easily correctible.
6 Students earning this poem may resort to re-telling the story. They will describe the sound of the trees and mention how it gives the poet a kind of wanderlust, but will not necessarily see how the poem works to achieve that effect. These papers will be competently written, but may not cite much evidence from the poem or recognize its structure.
4 These essay writers will be somewhat confused by the text. They may offer little in the way of insight. They may, for instance, wonder why the poet is so concerned about the sound trees make in the wind. Their writing may be illogical in part and will display multiple serious errors in the conventions of standard written English.
2 The student will be consistently confused by literary text and will demonstrate little control over its elements. They may write only briefly, but what they do write will be deeply flawed and bear little connection to the text they are analyzing.
Note: Students may give themselves odd numbered scores that reflect descriptors from two or more score points. A student may say, for instance, “some of score-point 6 aligns with my paper; but so does some parts of score-point 8. I think I deserve a 7.”
Score: _______
Rationale for score [be sure to write a detailed explanation of your score below]: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Student #1 [male]
Essay on the book Catherine, Called Birdy
In the book Catherine, Called Birdy, by Karen Cushman, Catherine’s behavior was so unacceptable that it could only get better. Change is always horrible, so don’t be afraid to take opportunities for change. Catherine lived in England in 1200. All she wanted was to be left alone, but her father wanted her to marry Shaggy Beard. So she behaved badly and ran away to marry someone she would be happy with. In the beginning of the story Catherine is a very foolish, stubborn little girl, but near the end she is a quite responsible, mature adult.
Catherine was an unwilling child with a very immature attitude. For instance she said “If Edward thinks that by writing a journal I will grow less childish, then he will have to write it for me, less childish indeed.” This outrageous behavior show her poorness of heart. Also showing that she’s little miss cranky pants and that she needs improvement. When her father informed her of Shaggy Beard she responded pathetically. For example, her expressions were clear “By a pig’s tail, I will not be given into marriage.” When Shaggy Beard arrived to the Manor she hid in a barn hoping that he would leave.
Near the end of the story Catherine pulled herself through and grew to be a responsible, mature grown up. For instance, she took responsibility by buying a bear in order to stop the fight that was about to happen. There would be 2 bears that would fight for entertainment. She thought it was dull so she bought the bear. When the King's cousin saw Catherine, she told her, "Sometimes you can’t push back, you have to take life as it is.” When the time came she didn’t push back! It was incredible. Catherine gave many impacts by the end of the story byu taking things seriously and peacefully.
In the beginning of the book Catherine, Called Birdy, Catherine needed an attitude adjustment for she was quite a stubborn child. But it turns out that she realized that change was needed and she came out on top of her good. Catherine wanted to be free but her father wanted Catherine and Shaggy Beard gotether. So, she became mature and responsible and married someone she loved. Change is not always needed, although sometimes it’s just what people need.
Final assessment on Frost’s poetry: explication of “The Sound of the Trees”
“The Sound of the Trees” by Robert Frost is a fantastic poem. It describes his passion and wonders. Why shall we put up with the trees and their swishing noises? Trees change Frost’s mood from bad to good. The author says how he “acquires” the listening air of these marvelous creatures we call trees. The trees talk about leaving, but they never keep their word. So, as “they grow wiser and older,” like Frost used to say, they keep their roots down in the floor and he watches them sway. Then, he decides to go forward and to make a reckless choice.
One of these days when the white clouds are up and the trees are in voice Frost won’t hear a sound for very far Frost shall be. The poem’s theme is that the trees are the people who say they will accomplish goals and dreams but they are still dreaming. And that Frost is the one who will come awake. The tone of Frost is courage to be the living and not dreaming tree. The accent of “the sound of the trees” is “ I wonder’ about’ the trees.’/Why do’ we wish’ to bear’ forever’ the noise’ of these.” The mood the author used was joy for happy Frost will be.
Student #2 [male]
Essay on the book Catherine, Called Birdy
Catherine’s change was like the winter snow; slowly but surely diverging into the summer sun. The way people change can be like a cow turning into a hamburger. In the book Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman, Catherine wants to be free, but her father wants her to marry for money. The story takes place in England, around the year 1290, and Catherine is having a hard time getting through life. She then decides to go with the flow, eventually she married the man of her dreams. Catherine made a very positive change from stubborn and childish to mature and responsible.
Catherine was very cantankerous and deficient in her early stages of life. In anger, Catherine refused to marry Shaggy Beard. Catherine wanted to be independent and marry whom she pleased. She completely despised him and hated his ways. Catherine is extremely childish. For instance, she wrote, “If my brother Edward thinks that writing this account of my days will help me grow less childish and more learned, he will have to write it. I will not do this any longer. And I will not spin. And I will not eat. Less childish indeed.” By her statement, Catherine showed her deficiencies and repulsiveness. She dislikes what Edward is having her do. Catherine can’t seem to get along with anyone.
Toward the end of the book, Catherine becomes a more accountable, fully grown young woman. For example, Catherine showed her liability when she bought one of the beras a the bear-bating contest with Shaggy Bear’s coins. Catherine put the matters into her hands to see to it that the bears wouldn’t get hurt. She felt that it was her responsibility to save the bears’ lives. For the record, she showed her maturity when she said, “For those alone, I am prepared to marry him.” She realizes that she doesn’t have any other choice. Catherine had finally accepted the fact that she had to marry him, and she could at least try to enjoy it. Catherine had become more and more grown up.
Catherine proved that she was grown up when she changed her attitude from stubborn and childish to mature and responsible. Catherine overcame the fear of marrying Shaggy Beard by having hope; and she ended up marrying who she pleased. Catherine was living proof that people can alter their personality and attitude by believing in themselves and believing that they can change.
Final assessment on Frost’s poetry: explication of “The Sound of the Trees”
Robert Frost seemingly wrote with different criteria in this poem, than in most of his others. The poem was one large stanza, with twenty-five lines. The following quote will be from the first two lines of the poem, showing the accent/stress marks: “I won’der a’bout the trees.’ Why’ do we wish’ to bear’ . . . “ The tone of the poem was sad yet content, shown when the main character says that we suffer the trees by the day. Although, the only things he does is watch and listen to the trees all day. Consequently, the mood of the poem turns into sadness and woe, because you want the main character to find something better to do. Frost used no onomatopea, similies, or metaphors when writing the poem. He used alliteration in a few places by repeating the first word of the line. Here is my interpretation of the poem. I thought that it was about a lonely person that watches trees from is window or door. He listens to the sounds they make. The young ones want to get away, but the old trees are happy where they are. The main character wants to do something else. “I shall make the reckless choice.” He says he will when, “The trees are in voice, tossing so as to scare.” I found reference to “Acquainted with the Night,” because both the main characters were lonely and had nothing better to do. I thought that that was an excellent poem, even with the sad tone, and I hope I supported everything well.
In a recent weblog entry I speculated that writing produced from models with little explicit instruction would be far superior to process writing, the kind advocated by Jane Schaeffer and in use in many middle and high school classrooms. I recruited a teacher of 7th graders to run such an experimental unit after I had observed the outstanding job she had done with process writing. I photo-copied the final papers and asked to also photo-copy the final product of writing from models. I wrote an 8-day unit on the poetry of Robert Frost and also wrote the explications to be used by the students as models. I also incorporated the strategy of ‘teaching backwards,’ the emphasis being placed on students encountering learning from text first. The unit plan began with these assumptions:
The over-all objective of this writing unit will be:
1. To increase the extent to which students can learn from text, not talk. All direct instruction will take place via text. [Students can and should learn from text, but they are not used to learning this way. It may take several days before they become accustomed to learning this way.]
2. To gain an appreciation of poetry in general and Robert Frost’s poetry in particular.
3. To understand the basic elements of poetic text, such as verse, lines, rhyme, meter, imagery and figurative language.
4. To become more powerful writers by exposure to models and to use the act of writing to discover ideas and shape thinking.
The basic pedagogy can be described as follows:
1. The students must encounter all, or nearly all, concepts from text first. If students do not understand the text, the first intervention is to have them return to the text for a second reading. Students should be encouraged to go beyond two readings, if necessary, and to mark up text as a way of entering it. It is crucial that students become independent learners and able to master text independently if they are to be successful in academic life. Every effort should be made to hold students to this high standard.
2. There will be a subset of students who are consistently confused by text and cannot proceed without scaffolding. Once a teacher has determined that a student fits this description, scaffold as necessary. However, a scaffold is a temporary support. The goal should be to remove the scaffold as soon as the student can function without it. Test routinely for independence. There may be an even smaller subset of students who will need some scaffolding at the beginning of the unit, but who can abandon it as they proceed.
3. Teacher modeling is crucial in this kind of learning. Read when the students read and write when the students write. Feel free to share your writing after students have shared theirs.
4. The premise of this kind of writing instruction is that logic is embedded in the grammar of language; it does not need to be explicitly taught to most students and most will absorb the logic of writing by exposure to good models. Student writing is a function of wide reading. The more a student reads and studies good writing, the more exposure he has to strong models and the more likely he is to embed good writing techniques. Again, there will be a subset of students for whom this does not happen, or happens at a much slower rate. Scaffolding, in the form of temporary supports, are needed here, but continually test for independence.
5. Avoid TELLING students the right answer, or how to proceed. Try to transfer instructions to text and have students learn by decoding and comprehending text.
When the unit concluded, I asked the teacher to write a reflection. Here is what she wrote:
"This unit was difficult for me to teach at first. It is so hard for a control freak to give up control! My students also struggled in the beginning; they were frustrated because I would not answer their questions, but rather made them read and reread until an answer presented itself. Notice I said "an" answer. Even at the end of the unit, my kids were not always correct in their interpretations. However, they became very adept a justifying their thinking and connecting individual thoughts to the larger picture. They also impressed me with their ability to take the academic language from the explications I provided and use similar language in their own explications. Answers went from, "This poem stinks. I think it's about someone who likes fire," to "Although this was a challenging poem, I believe Frost was trying to express..." Quite a bit of improvement! I think the concept of reading, rereading, and rereading again was critical to success. Students resisted at first, but they soon began to follow these steps without prompting from me. I even heard students whispering to each other, "How many times did you read it?" The room was filled with sounds of "Oh, I get it!" It was very encouraging!
Without hesitation, I can say that I will be teaching this unit again in the future. I made some notes to myself along the way in regards to adaptations for next year. For example, I will give a brief introduction to the unit in which I discover student's prior knowledge and discuss poetic terms. Initially, I was hesitant because of the high level of reading and writing presented in the unit. I have never been so happy to be proved wrong! All of my students made tremendous improvements. 100%...how often can a teacher say that?
As a matter of fact, I would be very interested in another Farrell creation for 8th grade. My colleagues agree. I'm not sharing with the other grade levels yet(; This was a great experience, Jack. Thanks for the faith and the confidence. I feel like a better teacher for having taught this unit."
Comparing the process writing with modeling became a bit like comparing apples with oranges. The process writing was multi-draft in nature and there was considerable opportunity for students to remove errors and revise to improve their pieces. The writing from models was first-draft, timed writing in the classroom, responding to material encountered for the first time. Having said that, though, I was impressed by the authenticity of the voice, the use of academic language and the internal logic of the prose found in the student writing responding to models. While the process writing was sound, and virtually error free, I found the writing to be artificial, formulaic and voiceless. The logic was directly derived from the graphic organizers used as pre-writing activities. This is not an indictment of the teacher in any way. The same teacher taught both units. I consider the process writing model to be fatally flawed and the writing from models approach to be a superior alternative.
Provided below are the writing samples from two students. Keep in mind that the process writing assignment was multi-draft and about a novel studied in class. The 2nd writing sample was produced in class and was an analysis of a poem "The Sound of Trees" the students had never seen before. Their own preparation was the previous work they had done on Frost's poems.
The Sound of Trees
by Robert Frost
Directions: One critical view of Frost the poet is: Frost’s poems often move from an event or an object through a metaphor to an idea in a smooth, uninterrupted flow. Within this pattern, Frost usually describes a complete event rather than a single vision. The heart of the process is the image or metaphor. Frost himself saw the metaphor as the beginning of the process.
Examine the following poem. Is it an example of Frost locating an object or an event and then moving through a metaphor to an idea in a smooth, uninterrupted flow? Analyze and explain in detail. Your analysis should display thinking on paper.
The Sound of Trees
I wonder about the trees.
Why do we wish to bear
Forever the noise of these
More than another noise
So close to our dwelling place?
We suffer them by the day
Till we lose all measure of pace,
And fixity in our joys,
And acquire a listening air.
They are that that talks of going
But never gets away;
And that talks no less for knowing,
As it grows wiser and older,
That now it means to stay.
My feet tug at the floor
And my head sways to my shoulder
Sometimes when I watch trees sway,
From the window or the door.
I shall set forth for somewhere,
I shall make the reckless choice
Some day when they are in voice
And tossing so as to scare
The white clouds over them on.
I shall have less to say,
But I shall be gone.N
ame: _________________________Assign
The way the Teaching Backwards lesson design works is the student writes in class to a text they have not seen before, but one for which they have been prepared by examining similar texts. After they finish, they pick up a scoring rubric (or guide) and score themselves. Under this model, students always self-score before the teacher scores.
Scoring Rubric
2.0 Writing Applications
2.2 Write responses to literature:
a. Develop interpretations exhibiting careful reading, understanding, and insight.
b. Organize interpretations around several clear ideas, premises, or images from the
literary work.
c. Justify interpretations through sustained use of examples and textual evidence.
Poetry Students write in-class essays analyzing new material, that is a poem the student has never seen before. Students will closely read poetic text, develop understandings and write interpretations that include the technical features of poetry when relevant.
Rubric:
10 Students earning the highest score will exhibit a full understanding of the role the ‘sound of trees’ plays in the life of the poet. Frost begins his poem by wondering why humans tolerate trees so close to where they live because they can make so much noise in the wind. Another poet might have focused on the pleasant nature of the sound, but Frost finds only irony in it. The sound reminds Frost of movement, but the trees never leave. They sway, but never stray. The top scorers will recognize the usual method Frost employs here. He moves from an event in nature, the swaying of trees in the wind and the sound they make, to a negative comparison between trees and man. Trees make the sound of motion, but never leave. Men, hearing that sound, yearn to leave. At the end of the poem, Frost makes his choice: “I shall set forth somewhere/I shall make the reckless choice/Some day when they are in voice . . ./I shall have less to say/But I shall be gone.” The idea is contained in a kind of reverse metaphor: Trees make the sound of movement, but never leave. Men have much less to say, but move easily and often. Some students may mention the variable line length, from 6 to 8 syllables per line. The poem also possesses an intricate rhyme. These papers will be very well written, with only one or two minor errors.
8 Students earning this score point will correctly establish the relationship between the poet and the sound trees make in the wind, but they may not see the irony in the poem. They will follow the scheme of event to metaphor to idea that is so common in Frost’s poetry, but in a less detailed and convincing way. They may or may not make technical observations concerning meter and rhyme. These papers will be moderately well-written. Any errors will be easily correctible.
6 Students earning this poem may resort to re-telling the story. They will describe the sound of the trees and mention how it gives the poet a kind of wanderlust, but will not necessarily see how the poem works to achieve that effect. These papers will be competently written, but may not cite much evidence from the poem or recognize its structure.
4 These essay writers will be somewhat confused by the text. They may offer little in the way of insight. They may, for instance, wonder why the poet is so concerned about the sound trees make in the wind. Their writing may be illogical in part and will display multiple serious errors in the conventions of standard written English.
2 The student will be consistently confused by literary text and will demonstrate little control over its elements. They may write only briefly, but what they do write will be deeply flawed and bear little connection to the text they are analyzing.
Note: Students may give themselves odd numbered scores that reflect descriptors from two or more score points. A student may say, for instance, “some of score-point 6 aligns with my paper; but so does some parts of score-point 8. I think I deserve a 7.”
Score: _______
Rationale for score [be sure to write a detailed explanation of your score below]: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Student #1 [male]
Essay on the book Catherine, Called Birdy
In the book Catherine, Called Birdy, by Karen Cushman, Catherine’s behavior was so unacceptable that it could only get better. Change is always horrible, so don’t be afraid to take opportunities for change. Catherine lived in England in 1200. All she wanted was to be left alone, but her father wanted her to marry Shaggy Beard. So she behaved badly and ran away to marry someone she would be happy with. In the beginning of the story Catherine is a very foolish, stubborn little girl, but near the end she is a quite responsible, mature adult.
Catherine was an unwilling child with a very immature attitude. For instance she said “If Edward thinks that by writing a journal I will grow less childish, then he will have to write it for me, less childish indeed.” This outrageous behavior show her poorness of heart. Also showing that she’s little miss cranky pants and that she needs improvement. When her father informed her of Shaggy Beard she responded pathetically. For example, her expressions were clear “By a pig’s tail, I will not be given into marriage.” When Shaggy Beard arrived to the Manor she hid in a barn hoping that he would leave.
Near the end of the story Catherine pulled herself through and grew to be a responsible, mature grown up. For instance, she took responsibility by buying a bear in order to stop the fight that was about to happen. There would be 2 bears that would fight for entertainment. She thought it was dull so she bought the bear. When the King's cousin saw Catherine, she told her, "Sometimes you can’t push back, you have to take life as it is.” When the time came she didn’t push back! It was incredible. Catherine gave many impacts by the end of the story byu taking things seriously and peacefully.
In the beginning of the book Catherine, Called Birdy, Catherine needed an attitude adjustment for she was quite a stubborn child. But it turns out that she realized that change was needed and she came out on top of her good. Catherine wanted to be free but her father wanted Catherine and Shaggy Beard gotether. So, she became mature and responsible and married someone she loved. Change is not always needed, although sometimes it’s just what people need.
Final assessment on Frost’s poetry: explication of “The Sound of the Trees”
“The Sound of the Trees” by Robert Frost is a fantastic poem. It describes his passion and wonders. Why shall we put up with the trees and their swishing noises? Trees change Frost’s mood from bad to good. The author says how he “acquires” the listening air of these marvelous creatures we call trees. The trees talk about leaving, but they never keep their word. So, as “they grow wiser and older,” like Frost used to say, they keep their roots down in the floor and he watches them sway. Then, he decides to go forward and to make a reckless choice.
One of these days when the white clouds are up and the trees are in voice Frost won’t hear a sound for very far Frost shall be. The poem’s theme is that the trees are the people who say they will accomplish goals and dreams but they are still dreaming. And that Frost is the one who will come awake. The tone of Frost is courage to be the living and not dreaming tree. The accent of “the sound of the trees” is “ I wonder’ about’ the trees.’/Why do’ we wish’ to bear’ forever’ the noise’ of these.” The mood the author used was joy for happy Frost will be.
Student #2 [male]
Essay on the book Catherine, Called Birdy
Catherine’s change was like the winter snow; slowly but surely diverging into the summer sun. The way people change can be like a cow turning into a hamburger. In the book Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman, Catherine wants to be free, but her father wants her to marry for money. The story takes place in England, around the year 1290, and Catherine is having a hard time getting through life. She then decides to go with the flow, eventually she married the man of her dreams. Catherine made a very positive change from stubborn and childish to mature and responsible.
Catherine was very cantankerous and deficient in her early stages of life. In anger, Catherine refused to marry Shaggy Beard. Catherine wanted to be independent and marry whom she pleased. She completely despised him and hated his ways. Catherine is extremely childish. For instance, she wrote, “If my brother Edward thinks that writing this account of my days will help me grow less childish and more learned, he will have to write it. I will not do this any longer. And I will not spin. And I will not eat. Less childish indeed.” By her statement, Catherine showed her deficiencies and repulsiveness. She dislikes what Edward is having her do. Catherine can’t seem to get along with anyone.
Toward the end of the book, Catherine becomes a more accountable, fully grown young woman. For example, Catherine showed her liability when she bought one of the beras a the bear-bating contest with Shaggy Bear’s coins. Catherine put the matters into her hands to see to it that the bears wouldn’t get hurt. She felt that it was her responsibility to save the bears’ lives. For the record, she showed her maturity when she said, “For those alone, I am prepared to marry him.” She realizes that she doesn’t have any other choice. Catherine had finally accepted the fact that she had to marry him, and she could at least try to enjoy it. Catherine had become more and more grown up.
Catherine proved that she was grown up when she changed her attitude from stubborn and childish to mature and responsible. Catherine overcame the fear of marrying Shaggy Beard by having hope; and she ended up marrying who she pleased. Catherine was living proof that people can alter their personality and attitude by believing in themselves and believing that they can change.
Final assessment on Frost’s poetry: explication of “The Sound of the Trees”
Robert Frost seemingly wrote with different criteria in this poem, than in most of his others. The poem was one large stanza, with twenty-five lines. The following quote will be from the first two lines of the poem, showing the accent/stress marks: “I won’der a’bout the trees.’ Why’ do we wish’ to bear’ . . . “ The tone of the poem was sad yet content, shown when the main character says that we suffer the trees by the day. Although, the only things he does is watch and listen to the trees all day. Consequently, the mood of the poem turns into sadness and woe, because you want the main character to find something better to do. Frost used no onomatopea, similies, or metaphors when writing the poem. He used alliteration in a few places by repeating the first word of the line. Here is my interpretation of the poem. I thought that it was about a lonely person that watches trees from is window or door. He listens to the sounds they make. The young ones want to get away, but the old trees are happy where they are. The main character wants to do something else. “I shall make the reckless choice.” He says he will when, “The trees are in voice, tossing so as to scare.” I found reference to “Acquainted with the Night,” because both the main characters were lonely and had nothing better to do. I thought that that was an excellent poem, even with the sad tone, and I hope I supported everything well.