AP Lit & Comp 1/30/15

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Lizbeth Mason
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1 AP Lit & Comp 1/30/15 1. Close reading 2. Voice 3. Our main focus for The Poisonwood Bible 4. Work on locating and analyzing voice within the novel 5. Reader Response for Book Two 6. For next class

2 CLOSE READING Imagine a ruin so strange it must never have happened. First, picture the forest. I want you to be its conscience, the eyes in the trees, The trees are columns of slick, brindled bark like muscular animals, overgrown beyond all reason. Every space is filled with life: delicate, poisonous frogs war-painted like skeletons, clutched in copulation, secreting their precious eggs onto dripping leaves. Vines strangling their own kin in the everlasting wrestle for sunlight. The breathing of monkeys. A glide of snake bely on branch. A single-file army of ants biting a mammoth tree into uniform grains and hauling it down to the dark for their ravenous queen. And, in reply, a choir of seedlings arching their necks out of rotted tree stumps, sucking life out of death. This forest eats itself and lives forever.

3 Dripping leaves - so the moisture/humidity is high. Here s what I ask myself Why open with the contradiction? CAN something be so strange that it never happened? CAN a forest have a conscience? Interesting personification. (eyes in the trees) Why does she call the animals muscular, overgrown beyond all reason? Why compare the trees to that image? Maybe to show they are dangerous, so immensely big beyond what the reader can imagine? Every space filled with life. Probably overwhelming, noisy. Delicate/poisonous frogs strong juxtaposition to show the balance of beauty and danger in this forest. Why does she write war-painted like skeletons, instead of war-painted like natives, or something else? Why skeletons? Does she want to introduce the idea of death or danger? And how can skeletons which aren t alive be clutched in copulation? This is an indecent image. Maybe shows the circle of life. Great alliteration.

4 Here s what I ask myself Vines strangling their own kin in the everlasting wrestle for sunlight. Is she foreshadowing the viciousness of survival in this forest OR maybe the struggle for survival within this family? The breathing of monkeys what does that sound like? Why use this auditory imagery here? Does she want it to be spooky? Calm? A natural part of the background? Maybe it s just as simple as showing us the exotic animal life there. Army of ants chopping up a MAMMOTH tree for their ravenous queen. Maybe she wants to show us that physically small things in this forest have deadly powers? A choir of seedlings arching their necks out of rotted tree stumps sucking life out of death. - What does that mean? What are the seedlings doing? What s the death? What s the life? The forest eats itself and lives forever. - This is a paradox. How can it be true? Why leave the reader with this as the final thought?

5 For this novel, we are going to focus on how Barbara Kingsolver uses VOICE to create and develop character. Voice is one technique you can discuss when writing about characterization on the AP exam in May, so learning this has very practical applications. PLUS Kingsolver is a brilliant creator of character, so looking at how she develops voice is fascinating.

6 VOICE From Nancy Dean s Discovering Voice: Voice Lessons Voice is created through conscious choices. In other words, the writer, painter, or musician purposefully chooses his or her tools (words, colors, instruments) and uses them in ways that create a certain effect. Writers make specific choices to create voice (very important to remember for the AP exam.) Voice is central to communication because Voice, the color and texture of communication, stamps expression with the indelible mark of personality. It is the expression of who we are: the pitch and timbre of verbalization. Voice is the fingerprint of a person s language.

7 Components of voice As you read and examine the narratives of Orleanna, Ruth May, Adah, Leah, and Rachel Price, I want you to identify the ways in which the color and texture of the narratives differ, thus creating different voices and, in turn, different characters and perspectives. The Five Components of Voice: diction syntax selection of detail figurative language tone

8 DICTION The difference between the right word and the almost right word is like the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. Not just word choice (Okay - at its most basic level, yes) Instead think: choosing the perfect word to convey your exact idea. The connotation of a word often resonates with a reader or audience. Words are not just black or white but a thousand shades of grey, depending upon their context. Words can be formal or informal, depending on the writer s audience and purpose A writer s words should always suit the audience and purpose of the piece. Keep thinking about purpose, as you read and examine the novel. We hear about the same event from more than one perspective. How does the diction of the differing narratives shape our understanding of the event?

9 Look at this You will start to compare how the techniques are used from character to character. For example, the character Ruth May is only five years old. An early line from one of her narratives is, If somebody was hungry, why would they have a big fat belly? I don t know. The content of this line is immediately suggestive of a younger character because it is asking a practical question based on a visual observation, something children often do.

10 If somebody was hungry, why would they have a big fat belly? I don t know. Looking at the diction in each line, the phrase big fat belly sticks out as suggestive of a younger speaker because of the redundancy of words and the choice of the word belly over stomach, a slightly more specific and mature word. The final sentence, I don t know, is a simple statement demonstrating the lack of knowledge of the character, and its placement directly after the question shows the spear does not attempt to puzzle out the question, an action an older character might attempt.

11 Now juxtapose Ruth May s sentence with 16-year-old Rachel s statement that opens her first narrative. Man oh man, are we in for it now, was my thinking about the Congo from the instant we first set foot. We are supposed to be calling the shots here, but it doesn t look to me like we re in charge of a thing, not even our own selves. The content of Rachel s statement is clearly different from Ruth May s in that Rachel is commenting on the larger place (Congo) and the larger differences she sees (us vs. them), while Ruth May looked at one specific visual image and could not connect to a larger concept. Note in Rachel s statement the slang term, man oh man, calling to mind teenagers and their fondness for more casual language and language experimentation.

12 There is also the structure of the sentences with parenthetical comments lending a caustic tone to the statements, which is much more sophisticated than Ruth May s simple question that she doesn t try to answer. BIG PICTURE? The changes in narrative speaker from chapter to chapter provide the reader with the opportunity to compare the voice changes and see the striking difference between the diction, syntax, and tone of 16-year-old Rachel and five-year-old Ruth May, as well as any of the other three narrators. Some word choices and structures seem to be unique to a specific character. Then consider the larger function of those choices. What is it about the phrase man oh man that calls to mind a teenage voice? What effect is made on the reader by using this phrase? What does the use of the phrase tell us about the character using it? By extension then, what can we, as readers, begin to think about the character s purpose in telling us her side of this story?

13 SYNTAX I like to define syntax as sentence arrangement. When a reader examines syntax, she is looking at where a writer chooses to place words, which word is placed near another, how phrases are configured and organized within the sentence, and the punctuation choices used within the sentence. Adah s narratives within the novel provide an excellent examination of syntax. Her fascination with palindrome and word play are all about syntax. Adah s animosity toward her twin sister is revealed when she states, Leah fancies herself Our Father s star pupil in matters Biblical. Star Pupil; Lipup Rats. Miss Rat-pup read the quote, nodding solemnly. Adah s palindrome of star pupil as lipup rats gives her the opportunity to call her sister a rat-pup, which is not an exact replica of the palindrome. The syntactical change is subtle, but revealing about Adah s feelings toward Leah.

14 SELECTION OF DETAIL Imagine a ruin so strange it must never have happened. First, picture the forest. I want you to be its conscience, the eyes in the trees. The trees are columns of slick, brindled bark like muscular animals overgrown beyond all reason. Every space is filled with life: delicate, poisonous frogs war-painted like skeletons, clutched in copulation, secreting their precious eggs onto dripping leaves. Vines strangling their own kin in the everlasting wrestle for sunlight. Lots of details, right? Look closer: Most details connect to larger events in the story. space is filled with life, but then she proceeds to describe a poisonous and destructive life. This alludes to the destructive force of the jungle on her family (malaria) or it could connect to the destruction Americans brought to the Congolese people. Vines strangling their own kin could be connected to what Nathan does to his children by taking them to the Congo and being so incredibly strict about religion and his expectations for them. It could also be Orleanna admitting that she played a part in the strangling of her own daughters. The detail choices within Orleanna s narrative are complex and revealing about her character s purpose.

15 For next class We will look at figurative language and tone next class. Go back through Book Two and choose three selections and really examine them. Choose one for diction. Choose one for syntax. And then choose one for selection of detail. Type (or write out) the passage. Then, break down (sentence by sentence) and examine the voice element you re focusing on. End by specifying what the element (author s technique) reveals about character, narrator distinction, or author s purpose.

16 For next class Get a good start reading Book Three Judges. Complete the voice analysis for diction, syntax, and selection of detail explained on an earlier slide in this presentation. Bring that with you to class on Monday.

AP * English Literature and Composition Prose Analysis Kingsolver s The Poisonwood Bible

AP * English Literature and Composition Prose Analysis Kingsolver s The Poisonwood Bible Student Packet AP* is a trademark of the College Entrance Examination Board. The College Entrance Examination Board