Category: English 9 Daily Updates

Assignment

STEP 1: View the poem “Stop all the clocks” (“Funeral Blues”) by Auden three times – viewing each video once:

• Video 1 – Man Reading Poem: https://youtu.be/CMK4mDtl8pQ?si=lO8W0q5gVU1q32wm
• Video 2 – Cartoon with Woman Voiceover: https://youtu.be/2ta8LBJ6sA8?si=WXAy6fKF8NDyW4BN
• Video 3 – Movie Scene: https://youtu.be/yNaHNuuqv14?si=HXtsTnkVuQLZFsqk

STEP 2: Answer the following questions, using the format from last week and covered in class this week. Each answer (for each question) should be 1-3 sentences. Be sure to include the question in the answer.

1. Describe Video 1 (Man Reading Poem).
2. Describe Video 2 (Cartoon with Woman Voiceover).
3. Describe Video 3 (Movie Scene).
4. Explain how video 1 and video 2 are different (biggest difference in your view).
5. Explain why video 1 and video 2 are different (your own analysis).
6. What can you infer about the relationship of the man reading the poem (in video 3) and the man who died (the character in the movie)?
7. What can you infer about the relationship of the narrator in the poem and the man who died (the character in the poem)?

Text

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone, Silence the pianos and with muffled drum Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come. Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead, Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves, Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves. He was my North, my South, my East and West, My working week and my Sunday rest, My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song; I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong. The stars are not wanted now: put out every one; Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun; Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood; For nothing now can ever come to any good. W H Auden

Glossary

infer = to figure something out using the evidence, even if the point is not explicit
explicit = when something is said “outright” or very clearly
implicit = when something is said “between the lines” or you have to figure out what is being said (from what is “between the lines” or from clues and evidence)
describe = using facts or other forms of evidence (also called Filler in this class) – this is the describe-level LOA (facts, examples, evidence, ideas, beliefs, quotes, etc.) (the questions at this level are: when? where? what? who? how many?)
explain = using your own conclusion (also called theory, thesis, and Focus in this class) – this is the explain-level LOA (the questions at this level are: why? how?) — the point of any high school or college/university level paper is to explain (at its best, explain is theoretical, systematic, based on evidence, developed, makes sense, and reflects your own analysis and understanding – it explains reality as reality actually is)
relationship = having to do with the connection-level LOA (the question at this level is: how does it connect?)

Note

A big idea of in this homework is to notice that there are two “minds” in the text. One “mind” is that of the narrator – a made up person. Who is this (made-up) person? Are they a man? A woman? Non-binary person? Etc.? The other “mind” is Auden, the author, a real person who once was alive and very real. Who is he? How does the author relate to the character, the made-up “voice” of the poem? In addition, for this assignment is there is an additional set of made-up and real people. The fictional character in a movie reads the poem, at his partner’s funeral. That fictional character is reading a poem by a real person, connecting the fictional world of the movie to the real world that real people live in. There are now two authors: The author of the poem. The author of the film. And there are two fictional worlds: The world of the poem. And the world of the movie.