Eng 10 - Holidays

2006-12-06 Ben Lee Eng 10

Hol idays By Jamaica Kincaid

Pre-readi ng

About The Author

Jamaica Kincaid was born in 1949 on the island of St. John’s. Antigua. She moved to the USA when she was going to school. Kincaid has written many stories and poems for famous magazines. The prose poem Holidays was published in 1983 and won the Dauwen Zebel Award.

About The Selection

The story Holidays is a prose poem because it uses so many of the poetic languages. It looks like a story but it sounds like a poem because of the language used in it. There are many details in the prose-poem.

Reader’s Journal

Imagine you are alone in a secluded setting. There is not television or telephone and nobody to talk to. What would you do? What might you think about? Would you enjoy the solitude? Would you be bored? Pretend you are really in such a situation and freewrite following your train of thought. If get stuck while freewriting, keep repeating the last thing you have writte4n until it triggers another idea.

I am in my room at home. Horrible. Uncomfortable and pissed off. I feel like killing somebody, I have no internet and it need it to do my homework. I have nothing to do and so many things that I need to do. I need the internet to do my homework. I need it to do my English 10 and especially Business class homework. I sit on my bed and think about doing my homework. I sleep a lot, all day. I get up and try the computer again. Not working still. I got back to sleep. I have no T.V to watch. I have no internet no way to do my homework. I feel alone and I hate it. I miss my friends from MSN, my games,

2006-12-06 Ben Lee Eng 10

my music and my homework. I must be going crazy to say I miss my homework. I want to get on the net and I can’t so I feel angry and I want to smash or throw away my computer. I feel freak out, depressed sand lonely bored and pissed off.

Res po ndi ng to the Sele cti on

1.

Where is the speaker at the beginning and at the end of this poem ? A: The speaker is sitting on a porch at the beginning and the end of the poem

2.

What does the speaker try to do with the ashes from the fireplace? What does she do after this attempt? What are the results of her cleaning efforts? A: The speaker tires to write her name in the ashes with her toe. She tries to clean her toe on the carpet after trying to write in the ashes. The results of her cleaning efforts are that her toe is still dirty and no is the carpet that she was trying to wipe it on.

3.

What decision does the speaker have to make as she walk down the road? What other decisions does she have to make? Are these difficult or important decisions? A: The speaker has to decide if she is going to go to the village store and if she is going to buy a peach. These decisions seem like they are not difficult or important.

4.

What has the speaker been doing while sitting on the porch facing the mountains? At the end of the selection, what dose she say she might do? A: The speaker has been sitting on the porch with her hands on top of her head. At the end of the poem the speaker is going

5.

Why is the speaker at this particular place? Is this place in which she lives? How do you know? A: The speaker is on holidays and she does not live there. At the beginning of poem she says that someone else was staying in the room before her.

6.

What does the speaker feel after the ash incident? What does she do next?

2006-12-06 Ben Lee Eng 10

What connection is there between the ash incident and the activity that follows? A: The speaker has a strong burning sensation in her toe after touching she ash. After touching the as she goes outside and walks down road. The only connection is that she is walking on her feet and she stones are hurting her feet like the way that the ashes hurt her feet.

7.

In what way is she speaker’s description of the peach she could buy similar to her feelings? What do the types of decision the speaker has to make tell you about her life in this place? A: The speaker is feeling bored and doesn’t care about anything. She feels the same way about the peach. she is bored.

8.

What kind of dream might the speaker have? Where do you think she might rather be? Why? Do you think she is unhappy with her situation? Why, or why not? A; The speaker might have a dream about doing something that is not boring. I don’t know where she would rather be. She sounds like she is bored so she might want to be somewhere less boring.

9.

What do the speaker’s actions suggest about her situation? Is she very industrious? Slow? Busy? Relaxed? What is the speaker’s attitude about where she is and what she is doing? A: The speaker does not seem to be very busy. She sounds like she is very bored with nothing to do.

10. Describe the speaker’s day. What were the major events? What were the most interesting things to her what was the weather like? What was the mood on this day? Was it a momentous day? What memories might the speaker have of this day? A: The speaker’s day sounds very boring because she does not do anything. She walks to the store and thinks about buying a peach. The weather is nice because she says she is hot. I think the mood on this day is boring because she has nothing to do. I don’t think the speaker will have any memories of this day because nothing happened.

2006-12-06 Ben Lee Eng 10

Unders tand ing Liter ature

1.

Po in t of View . Poi nt of v iew is the vantage point from which a story is told. This prose poem is written from a first-person point of view using the world I. What kind of picture does the reader get of the speaker from this point of view? What do we know about the speaker that only the speaker can tell us? What kind of picture would be created if somebody else were describing the speaker instead? A; The reader can understand exactly what the speaker is thinking because she is telling us what she is thinking. If someone else were telling us what the speaker was doing it might not show us how bored she is.

2.

Repe titi on . Re peti tio n is the use, again, of a sound, word, phrase, sentence, or other element. What phrases does the speaker repeat? Notice the way she moves from tone thought to another. Explain how repletion is used ot make these transitions. a: The speaker repeats words like big toe, sensation and the things that she wants to do. The speaker also repeats the end of a sentence at he start of the next sentence. She also repeats the word I many times.

Resp on din g in Writ ing

Pr ose P oem . Write a prose poem that focuses on being in a specific place. You may wish to write about the experience of being secluded as you did in the Reader’s Journal activity or you may wish to focus on the experience of being in a different place such as in your classroom, on the basketball court, or on a bus.

I am in my room at home and it is like a jail cell.

I am locked up with no window out so I feel horrible, uncomfortable and pissed off. .

I feel like killing somebody.

I have no internet and it need it to do my homework.

I am as angry as a tiger, a lion or a the burning hot rising sun.

2006-12-06 Ben Lee Eng 10

I have nothing to do and so many things that I need to do.

I need the internet to do my homework, all my English 10 and Business class homework.

I sit on my bed all alone like a prisoner and think about doing my homework.

I sleep all day until I get up and try the computer again.

Its not working still and I go back to sleep.

I have no T.V to watch and no internet so no way to do my homework.

I feel alone and I hate it like I hate my computer right now.

I miss my friends from MSN, my games, my music and my homework.

I must be going crazy to say I miss my homework!

I want to get on the net and I can’t so I feel as angry as a monster

I want to smash or throw away my computer.

I feel freak out, depressed and lonely bored and pissed off.

Exerc ise: Corre cti ng Impro per Shifts i n Verb Tense Revise the following sentence, correcting the improper shifts in verb tense. Ex. When Bryan stayed with her father, they play bridge. When Bry an st ayed wit h her fathe r, t hey pl ayed brid ge.

1.

Let’s go to the outdoor concert and brought a picnic. Let’s go to the outdoor concert and bri ng

2.

Charlie helped me cook chicken and potatoes for dinner, and we have fun working together. Charlie helped me cook chicken and potatoes fro dinner, and we had fun

2006-12-06 Ben Lee Eng 10

working together. 3.

In the dream, I hold a ceramic bird and walked in a solemn parade, but I will drop and break the bird. In the dream, I hold a ceramic bird and wal k in a solemn parade, but I will \drop and break the bird.

4.

When my doctor said, “All things in moderation. “ I understood his point. When my doctor said, “All things in moderation. “ I unders to od his point.

5.

Always remember you were the only one who is with you all your life. Always remember you are the only one who is with you all your life.