IBDP Lang/Lit Part 4: Literature Critical Studies- Alfred Lord Tennyson

IOC "Script" Test- Round 2

Task: ​You will be preparing a short version of what you would say for your IOC based on
the poem/ section of poem. Bullet points are not allowed, and this may not reflect everything
you will say during a recording, but it will demonstrate your understanding of the key
elements and continue developing skills in time management for written tests-​choose one of
the poems to analyze in the same way as the first test; you have 30 minutes.

Option 1:

"Crossing the Bar"

Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,
But such a tide as moving seems asleep, (5)
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.
Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark! (10)
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;
For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face (15)
When I have crost the bar.
"Crossing The Bar" IOC "script" test

1. In 2-3 detailed sentences determine what background about Alfred Lord Tennyson,
Victorian literature, or historical context would be necessary to introduce this poem.

2. Summarize the poem in its entirety along with any themes or global concepts that
arise within the piece. 2-4 sentences.

3. Give commentary reflecting the poem's form/ structure, meter, and/ or rhyme scheme-
note you do not need to discuss all of these to receive full credit. (2-4 sentences)

4. Identify ​four​ poetic devices used in this poem and analyze them for ​how and why
they are used in the text- you must have both how and why (what effect). You do not
need to re-write the lines, but please provide line numbers for your findings.

Device 1:___________________ Line number/s_______________

Analysis:
 Device 1:___________________ Line number/s_______________
Analysis:

Device 1:___________________ Line number/s_______________

Analysis:

Device 1:___________________ Line number/s_______________

Analysis:

5. Write ​one​ final statement that addresses one of the guiding questions:

● How are readers able to distinguish this poem as an elegy rather than a ballad,
and what does that form imply about Tennyson's condition of the time?
● What metaphors are used in the poem to signify an acceptance of death?
Option 2:

"Mariana"

"Mariana in the Moated Grange"

(Shakespeare, ​Measure for Measure)

With blackest moss the flower-plots

Were thickly crusted, one and all:
The rusted nails fell from the knots
That held the pear to the gable-wall.
The broken sheds look'd sad and strange: (5)
Unlifted was the clinking latch;
Weeded and worn the ancient thatch
Upon the lonely moated grange.
She only said, "My life is dreary,
He cometh not," she said; (10)
She said, "I am aweary, aweary,
I would that I were dead!"

Her tears fell with the dews at even;

Her tears fell ere the dews were dried;
She could not look on the sweet heaven, (15)
Either at morn or eventide.
After the flitting of the bats,
When thickest dark did trance the sky,
She drew her casement-curtain by,
And glanced athwart the glooming flats. (20)
She only said, "The night is dreary,
He cometh not," she said;
She said, "I am aweary, aweary,
I would that I were dead!"

Upon the middle of the night, (25)

Waking she heard the night-fowl crow:
The cock sung out an hour ere light:
From the dark fen the oxen's low
Came to her: without hope of change,
In sleep she seem'd to walk forlorn, (30)
Till cold winds woke the gray-eyed morn
About the lonely moated grange.
She only said, "The day is dreary,
He cometh not," she said;
She said, "I am aweary, aweary, (35)
I would that I were dead!"

About a stone-cast from the wall

A sluice with blacken'd waters slept,
And o'er it many, round and small,
The cluster'd marish-mosses crept. (40)
Hard by a poplar shook alway,
All silver-green with gnarled bark:
For leagues no other tree did mark
The level waste, the rounding gray.
She only said, "My life is dreary, (45)
He cometh not," she said;
She said "I am aweary, aweary
I would that I were dead!"

And ever when the moon was low,

And the shrill winds were up and away, (50)
In the white curtain, to and fro,
She saw the gusty shadow sway.
But when the moon was very low
And wild winds bound within their cell,
The shadow of the poplar fell (55)
Upon her bed, across her brow.
She only said, "The night is dreary,
He cometh not," she said;
She said "I am aweary, aweary,
I would that I were dead!" (60)

All day within the dreamy house,

The doors upon their hinges creak'd;
The blue fly sung in the pane; the mouse
Behind the mouldering wainscot shriek'd,
Or from the crevice peer'd about. (65)
Old faces glimmer'd thro' the doors
Old footsteps trod the upper floors,
Old voices called her from without.
She only said, "My life is dreary,
He cometh not," she said; (70)
She said, "I am aweary, aweary,
I would that I were dead!"
The sparrow's chirrup on the roof,
The slow clock ticking, and the sound
Which to the wooing wind aloof (75)
The poplar made, did all confound
Her sense; but most she loathed the hour
When the thick-moted sunbeam lay
Athwart the chambers, and the day
Was sloping toward his western bower. (80)
Then said she, "I am very dreary,
He will not come," she said;
She wept, "I am aweary, aweary,
Oh God, that I were dead!"

"Mariana" IOC "script" test

1. In 2-3 detailed sentences determine what background about Alfred Lord Tennyson,
Victorian literature, or historical context would be necessary to introduce this poem.

2. Summarize the poem in its entirety along with any themes or global concepts that
arise within the piece. 2-4 sentences.

3. Give commentary reflecting the poem's form/ structure, meter, and/ or rhyme scheme-
note you do not need to discuss all of these to receive full credit. (2-4 sentences)
 4. Identify ​four​ poetic devices used in this poem and analyze them for ​how and why
they are used in the text- you must have both how and why (what effect). You do not
need to re-write the lines, but please provide line numbers for your findings.

Device 1:___________________ Line number/s_______________

Analysis:

Device 1:___________________ Line number/s_______________

Analysis:

Device 1:___________________ Line number/s_______________

Analysis:

Device 1:___________________ Line number/s_______________

Analysis:

5. Write ​one​ final statement that addresses one of the guiding questions:
● How does this poem effectively display the concept of loneliness and isolation?
● How does Tennyson use color imagery to create the mood within the poem?
Option 3: "To J. S."

The wind, that beats the mountain, blows

More softly round the open world,
And gently comes the world to those
That are cast in gentle mould.

And me this knowledge bolder made, (5)

Or else I had not dare to flow
In these words toward you, and invade
Even with a verse your holy woe.

'Tis strange that those we lean on most,

Those in whose laps our limbs are nursed, (10)
Fall into shadow, soonest lost:
Those we love first are taken first.

God gives us love. Something to love

He lends us; but, when love is grown
To ripeness, that on which it throve (15)
Falls off, and love is left alone.

This is the curse of time. Alas!

In grief I am not all unlearn'd;
Once thro' mine own doors Death did pass;
One went, who never hath return'd. (20)

He will not smile—not speak to me

Once more. Two years his chair is seen
Empty before us. That was he
Without whose life I had not been.

Your loss is rarer; for this star (25)

Rose with you thro' a little arc
Of heaven, nor having wander'd far
Shot on the sudden into dark.

I knew your brother: his mute dust

I honour and his living worth: (30)
A man more pure and bold and just
Was never born into the earth.
I have not look'd upon you nigh,
Since that dear soul hath fall'n asleep.
Great nature is more wise than I: (35)
I will not tell you not to weep.

And tho' mine own eyes fill with dew,

Drawn from the spirit thro' the brain,
I will not even preach to you,
"Weep, weeping dulls the inward pain." (40)

Let Grief be her own mistress still.

She loveth her own anguish deep
More than much pleasure. Let her will
Be done—to weep or not to weep.

I will not say "God's ordinance (45)

Of death is blown in every wind;"
For that is not a common chance
That takes away a noble mind.

His memory long will live alone

In all our hearts, as mournful light (50)
That broods above the fallen sun,
And dwells in heaven half the night.

Vain solace! Memory standing near

Cast down her eyes, and in her throat
Her voice seem'd distant, and a tear (55)
Dropt on the letters as I wrote.

I wrote I know not what. In truth,

How ​should​ I soothe you anyway,
Who miss the brother of your youth?
Yet something I did wish to say: (60)

For he too was a friend to me:

Both are my friends, and my true breast
Bleedeth for both: yet it may be
That only silence suiteth best.

Words weaker than your grief would make (65)

Grief more. 'Twere better I should cease;
Although myself could almost take
The place of him that sleeps in peace.

Sleep sweetly, tender heart, in peace;

Sleep, holy spirit, blessed soul, (70)
While the stars burn, the moons increase,
And the great ages onward roll.

Sleep till the end, true soul and sweet.

Nothing comes to thee new or strange,
Sleep full of rest from head to feet: (75)
Lie still, dry dust, secure of change.

1. In 2-3 detailed sentences determine what background about Alfred Lord Tennyson,
Victorian literature, or historical context would be necessary to introduce this poem.

2. Summarize the poem in its entirety along with any themes or global concepts that
arise within the piece. 2-4 sentences.

3. Give commentary reflecting the poem's form/ structure, meter, and/ or rhyme scheme-
note you do not need to discuss all of these to receive full credit. (2-4 sentences)

4. Identify ​four​ poetic devices used in this poem and analyze them for ​how and why
they are used in the text- you must have both how and why (what effect). You do not
 need to re-write the lines, but please provide line numbers for your findings.

Device 1:___________________ Line number/s_______________

Analysis:

Device 1:___________________ Line number/s_______________

Analysis:

Device 1:___________________ Line number/s_______________

Analysis:

Device 1:___________________ Line number/s_______________

Analysis:

5. Write ​one​ final statement that addresses one of the guiding questions:

● How does this poem adhere to conventional forms and structures of poetry?
● How does Tennyson express his sympathy for his friend's loss (what tone does the
poem carry and what techniques does he use to convey these emotions?)