4-Square Poe-cabulary: Due on Thursday

Fold a piece of paper so that you have four squares.

Use one square for each word:
1. Write the definition (you may
shorten the dictionary definition
to its essential parts)

Poe-cab words:

2. Write the line from the poem.

(742/785)

1.

Dreary

2.

Ponder

3.

Entreat

4.

Implore

5.

Melancholy

6.

Pallid

3. Draw a picture.

Bonus points (no points given if the basic assignment

isnt completed):
+10: Add two more vocabulary words from The Raven
in the remaining two squares.

Biography of Edgar Allan Poe

Bellwork 1/13/15
Please take a slip of paper from the
white(ish) table at the front of the room.
Write your name and hour in the top
right-hand corner, and number from 1 to
6.
No talking is permitted during the quiz.

1. Tuberculosis is a disease of the

A. heart. B. brain.

C. lungs.

2. Writers did not make a lot of

money during Poes lifetime.
Why?
A. Not many people could read
B. An author had to publish his own
works
C. There were no copyright laws

4. Edgar temporarily moved out of the Clemm home and

became editor for a publication. The nickname given him by
fellow writers and critics was _?_.
A. Tomahawk

B. Pain in the rear

C. Raven
5. The Red Death was symbolic of what illness?
A. Lung cancer

B. Tuberculosis

C. Pneumonia
6. His last words were
A. God, forgive my many sins.
B. God, help my poor soul.

3. To avoid a scandal, his brides

age was listed as _?_ on the
marriage certificate.
A. 18

B. 21

C. 24

C. Nevermore.

Trade with a neighbor.

Check the answers.
Write the score at the top: number
correct/6
C, C, B, A, B, B

Ravens
(a few fun facts)

1. Ravens are one of the smartest

animals.
In one logic test, the raven had to get a hanging piece of food
by pulling up a bit of the string, anchoring it with its claw, and
repeating until the food was in reach. Many ravens got the food
on the first try, some within 30 seconds.
In the wild, ravens have pushed rocks on people to keep them
from climbing to their nests, stolen fish by pulling a fishermens
line out of ice holes, and played dead beside a beaver carcass
to scare other ravens away from a delicious feast.
If a raven knows another raven is watching it hide its food, it
will pretend to put the food in one place while really hiding it in
another. Since the other ravens are smart too, this only works
sometimes.

2. Ravens can imitate human

speech.

3. Europeans often saw ravens as

evil in disguise.
In France, people believed ravens were the souls of
wicked priests, while crows were wicked nuns.
In Germany, ravens were the incarnation of damned
souls or sometimes Satan himself.
In Sweden, ravens that croaked at night were thought
to be the souls of murdered people who didnt have
proper Christian burials.
And in Denmark, people believed that night ravens
were exorcized spirits, and youd better not look up at
them in case there was a hole in the birds wing,
because you might look through the hole and turn into
a raven yourself.

4. Ravens have been featured in

many myths.

Celtic goddesses of warfare often took the form of

ravens during battles.
The Viking god, Odin, had two ravens, Hugin (thought)
and Munin (memory), which flew around the world
every day and reported back to Odin every night about
what they saw.
The Chinese said ravens caused bad weather in the
forests to warn people that the gods were going to pass
by.
In Greek mythology, ravens were seen as messengers.
And some Native American tribes worshipped the
raven as a deity in and of itself. Called simply Raven,

5. Ravens like to have fun.

A Quick Plot Spoiler of The Raven

"The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe is one of the most
famous poems by the American storyteller. The
poem takes place in December just after midnight
as a depressed man is sitting in his library,
reminiscing about the dead Lenore.
Suddenly, he hears a knock and he thinks it is
coming from the front door, he apologizes and
opens the door to find nothing. Being a little
startled, the man convinces himself it was only
the wind against the window and goes to the
window to open it for some fresh air. Once he
opens the window a raven flies in.

 The Raven sits perched on a small bust above the

door meanwhile, the narrator begins to talk to the
bird and inquires if the bird has a name; The Raven
replies with Nevermore. Surprised at the birds
response the narrator continues to question him.
However, he does not get very far as the birds only
reply to each question is nevermore.
The narrator slightly fears the bird thinking
perhaps he is the bird of evil sent to torture him.
However, he asks his last and final question which
is, will he ever hold his love Lenore again. It
becomes clear throughout the poems that the man
is delirious and distraught over the loss of his love.

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

(page 742/785)

Writing prompt:
Why is it appropriate for Poe use a
raven in his poem? What does the
raven symbolize for the speaker?

Eeeeevil words
Search the poem for references to heaven
and hell. Write down the words or phrases
and the line number.

Pick out the most interestingsounding line you can see in the
poem.
What is it and what makes it sound interesting?

Bellwork 1/14/15
Assonance- when two or more words close to one
another repeat the same vowel sound but start with
different consonant sounds. For the following, write
the lines and then underline the vowels that sound the
same. Use number one as an example.
Example: We light fire on the mountain.
1. I feel depressed and restless.
2. Go and mow the lawn.
3. Johnny went here and there and everywhere.
4. The engineer held the steering to steer the vehicle.

Find examples of these poetic devices in The

Raven
(5) Alliteration- Repetition of
the initial consonant sound
(2) Simile- A comparison
using like or as
(1) Metaphor- A comparison
without using like or as
(2) Allusion- referring to a
well-known person or event
(1) Assonance- The repetition
of a vowel sound (underline
it)

(1) Personification- Giving

human-like qualities or
characteristics to
something.
(2) Onomatopoeia- When the
spelling of a word mimics its
sound
(4) Internal rhyme - the
rhyming of words within a
line of poetry, not just at the
end of the lines.

Answer as a group:
1. How do the internal rhyme, alliteration,
onomatopoeia and assonance (sounds) show the
speakers state of mind?
2. What effect do the metaphors, similes, and
personification have on our perception of the
raven?
3. Why does Poe allude to Pallas? What connection
does Pallas Athena have to the idea of the poem?