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Understanding poems

Module by: Siyavula Uploaders. E-mail the author

ENGLISH HOME LANGUAGE

Grade 7

Module 9

UNDERSTANDING POEMS

Read the following poems and then answer the questions that follow.

POEM 1:

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

Angry waves roll and roar

over the rocky shore

crashing, thundering

over a jagged rock

as if the rocks need

a beating for bad behaviour

What has made the sea so cross?

Perhaps it is the oily sludge

from our wrecked oil tankers

perhaps it is man who should get the hiding.

P. & B. Louw

POEM 1:

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

Angry waves roll and roar

over the rocky shore

crashing, thundering

over a jagged rock

as if the rocks need

a beating for bad behaviour

What has made the sea so cross?

Perhaps it is the oily sludge

from our wrecked oil tankers

perhaps it is man who should get the hiding.

P. & B. Louw

Read the poem "Crime and Punishment."

  • Why is the sea angry?

2)

  • What words do the poets use to help create an atmosphere of anger?

(4)

  • Who has committed the "crime" mentioned in the name of the poem?

(1)

  • Name three other ways in which the sea is polluted. (3)

Total: [10]

Read the poem "The hungry sea".

  • What is the first stanza of this poem describing? (2)
  1. (i) Explain what is meant by " ... but no-one could foresee the strange and cruel power of the sea ..." (3)
  2. (ii) Who is "the voice from above"?

(1)

  1. (i) What was the danger of the oxygen pipe stretching?

(2)

  1. (i) Briefly explain, in your own words, what has happened in the last stanza.

(2)

  1. (i) The tone of this poem is (serious; humorous). (1)

Total: [10]

  1. (a) When reading these poems, we are reminded that we should respect the sea.
  1. (i) In what way should we respect the sea in the light of the first poem?
  2. (ii) In what way should we respect the sea in the light of the second poem?
Table 1
LO 5.1.3  
  1. (a) Complete the following table to explain your answer:
Table 2
  1. (i) POEM 1
  1. (i) POEM 2
   
   
   
   
   

2 x 2 = (4)

Table 3
LO 5.1.2  

LANGUAGE

  1. (a) Underline all the adjectives in the first poem.
  2. (b) What adjectives are used to describe the power of the sea in the second poem?
  3. (c) Write down three words from the second poem that help to show that the manned probe was not strong enough to face the power of the sea.
  4. (d) Find the meaning of the words in bold in both poems.

WRITING

Choose an animal and look at its appearance, body, how it moves and the sound that it makes. Then use the information you have gathered to write your own metaphor (comparison) poem.

Table 4
LO 4.4.1  
LO 5.4.1  

DIFFERENT KINDS OF ADJECTIVES

  • "Asking" adjectives (Interrogative)e.g. Which dog do you prefer?
  • Possessive Adjectives - these show ownershipe.g. Peter never brushes his hair.
  • Adjectives of quality.e.g. He has a tall brother.
  • Adjectives of quantity - these deal with the amount of something.e.g. She had enough food to feed an army.
  • Distinguishing or Demonstrative Adjectives.e.g. Those dogs and these cats are for sale.

Underline the adjectives in the sentences below and say what kind they are:

  1. (a) Peter lost his flipper out at sea, while his older brother was trying to catch fish.
  2. (b) The man who was in the boat close by, saw it sink to the bottom of the sea. He said, "That flipper will never be found."
  3. (c) There were enough fish to feed an army.
  4. (d) Which fish do you prefer?

ADJECTIVES: DEGREES OF COMPARISON

Adjectives can have three forms of comparisons in order that one person or thing may be compared with others.

Tom is a short boy.

(‘short’ is an ordinary adjective)

‘short’ is used when no comparison is made.

Tom is shorter than his brother.

( ‘shorter’ is a comparative adjective)

A ‘comparative’ adjective is used when you compare two things.

Tom is the shortest in his family.

(‘shortest’ is a superlative adjective)

A superlative adjective is used when referring to at least three things.

  1. (a) clean
  2. (b) quick
  3. (c) strong
  4. (d) long
  5. (e) loud
  6. (f) rough
  7. (g) fast
  8. (h) bright
Table 5
LO 6.1.1  

LANGUAGE

  1. (a) Look at the words in bold. They are adjectives. Write them down and find their comparative and superlative degree.

ANEMONES : PLANTS OR ANIMALS?

In all seas and oceans, from the tidal zone to a depth of 10 000 metres, live animals that look so much like flowers that their common names include "sea anemone," "sea dahlia" and "sea chrysanthemum" are found. Scientifically they belong to the class anthozoa.

The primitive anatomy of these animals places them low on the scale of evolutionary development. They have only one body opening through which food is taken in and waste material expelled. The opening faces upwards and is surrounded by tentacles.

There can be a single ring of thick individual tentacles or several rings of feathery fine, often branched, ones. It is these tentacles that give the animals their flower-like appearance.

Below the oral disc with its mouth opening and rings of tentacles, are the main body stem and then a base, also referred to as the aboral disc or petal disc.

Sea anemones, dahlias, etc. are usually coloured in vivid yellows, reds, blues, greens or browns. Many species are multi-coloured.

Most catch their prey in an unusual manner. Their tentacles contain tiny stinging cells, scientifically called cnidoblasts. These have a bulbous appearance and each contains a spirally folded, hollow thread with a very small harpoon-shaped barb at its end. The entire structure is so small that it can only be seen under the most powerful microscopes.

When a victim comes in contact with the tentacles, the cnidoblasts literally explode and shoot out their miniature harpoons with considerable force. The harpoons penetrate the victim's skin and inject a potent poison.

Since the harpoons are microscopic in size their individual effect is minimal. However, hundreds of these harpoons, scientifically called nematocysts, are activated simultaneously. This multiplies the poison's effect so that a fish of the same size as the anemone is killed almost instantly.

Fortunately, most sea anemones are too small to have any effect on a human.

Adapted from: PERSONALITY, May 25, 1987

Table 6
POSITIVE DEGREE COMPARATIVE DEGREE SUPERLATIVE DEGREE
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
Table 7
LO 6.1.1  
  1. (a) You have read the scientific information on the anemones. Is this fact or opinion?

Why do you say this?

  1. (a) Research Work

Look in encyclopaedias or reference books for information about animals and plants under the sea. Now write two scientific paragraphs describing any two animals or plants. You may draw pictures as well.

Table 8
LO 4.1.2  

Assessment

Table 9
LO 4
WRITINGThe learner will be able to write different kinds of factual and imaginative texts for a wide range of purposes.
We know this when the learner:
4.1 writes different kinds of texts for different purposes and audiences:
4.1.1 writes for personal, exploratory, playful, imaginative and creative purposes (e.g. journals, poems, myths, dialogues, argumentative essays);
4.1.2 writes informational texts expressing ideas clearly and logically for different audiences (e.g. research report, letter to the newspaper, technical instructions);
4.1.4 shows understanding of style and register (e.g. transfers information form story into a newspaper article).
4.4 applies knowledge of language at various levels:
4.4.1 word level;
LO 5
THINKING AND REASONINGThe learner will able to use language to think and reason, and access, process and use information for learning.
We know this when the learner:
5.1 uses language to think and reason:
5.1.2 expresses an opinion and supports it with solid evidence;
5.1.3 develops a balanced argument on relevant and challenging issues;
5.3 processes information:
5.3.6 changes format of information (e.g. form tables into written form, tables to graphs);
5.4 uses language to think creatively:
5.4.1 describes what learner visualises after reading or listening to a text;
5.4.2 invents and describes preferred results or endings.
LO 6
LANGUAGE STRUCTURE AND USEThe learner will know and be able to use the sounds, words and grammar of the language and interpret texts.
We know this when the learner:
6.1 works with words:
6.1.1 uses prefixes, stems and suffixes/extensions to form words;
6.1.3 records words in a personal dictionary;
6.2 works with sentences:
6.2.2 identifies and uses nouns, pronouns, prepositions, articles, conjunctions, and modals.
6.4 develops awareness and use of style:
6.4.2 understands and uses figurative language such as metaphor (e.g. ‘He is an angel.’).

Memorandum

Comprehension

(a) (i) Because the oily sludge has polluted it.

(ii) angry, roar, beating, bad (behaviour)

(iii) man

(iv) human waste (e.g. sewage)

industrial waste from factories (chemicals)

waste thrown overboard from / prumped out of ships

(b) (i) A deep-sea diving crew – investigating a shipwreck? They were in a craft

(i) No-one could have known that the crew wouldn’t survive (i.e. be destroyed by the cruel sea).

(ii) The person in charge of the team – the “boss” who stayed on board. It could also be the person who had planned it, but who was not actively involved (the person “at the top”).

(iii) It could break.

(iv) It is not perfectly clear, but there is a suggestion that the sea became rough (cruel power) and stormy and that the vessel (probe) was adrift / was tossed about causing the cable to snap and the oxygen pipe to break.

(v) serious

(c) (i) We should not pollute it.

(ii) We should know that it can be dangerous.

1. (b) strange, cruel

(c) a thin lifeline

(d)

Table 10
Jagged With rough, sharp points that stick out
Sludge Dirty oil or industrial waste
Spiralling Winding in a continuous curve around a central point.
Routine Actions that are regularly done; regular procedure.

3.

(a) his = possessive adj.

older = adj. of quality

(b) that = possessive adj.

(c) enough = adj. of quantity

(d) which = “asking” or interrogative adj.

4.

Table 11
(a) clean cleaner cleanest
(b) quick quicker quickest
(c) strong stronger strongest
(d) long longer longest
(e) loud louder loudest
(f) rough rougher roughest
(g) fast faster fastest
(h) bright brighter brightest

5. (a)

Table 12
POSITIVE DEGREE COMPARATIVE DEGREE SUPERLATIVE DEGREE
common commoner commonest
primitive more primitive most primitive
low lower lowest
thick thicker thickest
feathery more feathery most feathery
fine finer finest
tiny tinier tiniest
stinging more stinging most stinging
unusual more unusual most unusual
hollow hollower hollowest
potent more potent most potent

(b) Fact

  • Because a number of facts are given. It is a description in scientific terms.

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