From Pop to Poems

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From Pop to Poems Using the familiar (song
lyrics) to teach unfamiliar texts (poems)Zanita
Thompsonzthompson_at_nghs.school.nz
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• Main objectives
• to build students confidence in analysing
  familiar texts (pop songs) first then unfamiliar
  texts.
• to teach students how to use TEEPEE to analyse
  texts convincingly and perceptively for
  Excellence.

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Prior knowledge - I can define these language
techniques (features)

1. Metaphor and extended metaphor
2. Personification
3. Simile
4. Direct address
5. Concrete noun
6. Symbolism
7. Vivid Verb
8. Connotation
9. Imperative
10. Cliché
11. Rhetorical question

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Techniques - definitions

• 1. Metaphor/extended metaphor a direct
  comparison between two very different things,
  usually impossible. An extended metaphor is
  long/developed.
• 2. Personification a type of metaphor, where a
  thing (inanimate object) is compared to a person
  or has human characteristics.
• 3. Simile a comparison between two different
  things, using like or as.
• 4. Direct address use of 2nd person pronouns
  you to talk to the reader.
• 5. Concrete noun a noun (thing) you can see or
  touch. Many similar nouns may indicate an
  extended metaphor.
• 6. Symbolism use of a concrete noun to
  represent an abstract noun (idea/feeling) or
  organisation.
• 7. Vivid Verb a verb (doing word) which is
  specific and has impact. May have a positive or
  negative tone.
• 8. Connotation ideas or feelings associated
  with a word.
• 9. Imperative a command.
• 10. Cliché a cheesy/overused saying.
• 11. Rhetorical question a question asked for
  effect.

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Firework by Katy Perry http//www.youtube.com/wa
tch?vQGJuMBdaqIw
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• Do you ever feel like a plastic bag,
• Drifting through the wind, wanting to start
  again?
• Do you ever feel, feel so paper-thin
• Like a house of cards, one blow from caving in?
•  
• Do you ever feel already buried deep? Six feet
  under screams, but no one seems to hear a thing
• Do you know that there's still a chance for you?
• 'Cause there's a spark in you
•   
• Chorus
• You just gotta ignite the light, and let it shine
• Just own the night like the Fourth of July
• 'Cause baby you're a firework
• Come on, show 'em what you're worth
• Make 'em go "oh, oh, oh!"
• As you shoot across the sky.
•  Baby you're a firework
•  

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Examples of techniques

1. Metaphor/extended metaphor Youre a firework
2. Simile - Do you ever feel like a plastic
   bag/drifting through the wind/wanting to start
   again?
3. Direct address - Do you know that there's still
   a chance for you?
4. Concrete nouns - A spark, The light, The Fourth
   of July, A firework, The sky, the moon
5. Vivid Verb Drifting, Wanting to start, Blow,
   Buried, Screams, Shoot, Burst, Leave
6. Connotations The first 4 verbs are negative
   and the last 3 verbs are positive.
7. Symbolism - After a hurricane, comes a rainbow
   a rainbow is a (cliché) symbol of hope.
8. Imperative - show em what youre worth
9. Cliché - You don't have to feel like a waste of
   space/ You're original, cannot be replaced.
10. Rhetorical question Do you ever feel already
    buried deep, Six feet under screaming, but no one
    seems to hear a thing?
11. Repetition Youre a firework

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Zoom in on techniques - use convergent thinking

• T - What is the most important technique
  (language feature) used?
• E - What is the most important example of that
  technique?

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Answer for Zoom In - TEE

• Technique metaphor
• Example - Youre a firework (The title!)
• Now highlight all words/phrases to do with
  fireworks.

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Answer for Zoom In - TEE

• Because there are so many words connected with
  fireworks, it is an extended metaphor.
• Firework
• Theres a spark in you
• ignite the light, and let it shine
• Just own the night like the Fourth of July
  (American Independence Day)
• As you shoot across the sky.
•  Come on, let your colours burst
• You're gonna leave 'em all in awe, awe, awe.

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Zoom In - TEE

• Technique extended metaphor
• Example - Youre a firework Theres a spark in
  you.
• N.B. This will only get you N2 for the question.
  You need to show you understand the example for
  A3.
• E - Explain the most important examples of that
  technique.

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Possible Answer for Zoom In - TEE

• Explain - The audience you is being compared
  to a firework, which is bright and loud, and
  creates a spectacular display for others to
  admire. The message is to appreciate the spark
  (life) in you and dont hide but be confident and
  make your mark upon the world as you ignite the
  light and let it shine.
• N.B. This will get you a maximum of A4. You need
  to show understanding of other techniques for
  M5.

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TEEPEE How to analyse texts convincingly and
perceptively for Excellence.
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Zoom out to the poets purpose - use divergent
thinking

• P Purpose
• Thinking about all these techniques and
  examples, why do you think the author wrote this
  song?

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Possible Answer - Purpose

• P Purpose
• To encourage the audience to believe in their
  potential theres a spark in you.

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Elaborate

• E Elaborate
• Tone is it positive or negative, amusing or
  serious?
• Respond what is its effect on you?
• It makes me feel ...
• Links to wider world (beyond the lines). What
  do we learn about the world or human nature from
  it?

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Possible Answer for Elaborate

• E - Elaborate
• Telling the audience using direct address
  (you) that they are metaphorically a firework
  inspires us to have hope for the future (a
  rainbow), to believe that we have innate value
  (spark) and contrary to negative pressures
  (feel buried deep) we have potential to excel
  in life and make our mark on the world (boom,
  boom, boom).

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Evaluate

• E Evaluate
• Is it successful? Why?

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Possible Answer for Evaluate

• Evaluate At times, all teenagers feel like they
  are undervalued (a waste of space), powerless
  (one blow from caving in), drifting through
  life without purpose, without being heard (but
  no one seems to hear a thing), so this song,
  with its positive message, (theres still a
  chance for you ... Your heart will glow) has
  universal appeal. The use of the extended
  metaphor of fireworks with their positive
  connotations and connections with celebrations
  (the fourth of July) match the purpose of the
  text in making the audience appreciate their
  lives and have hope for the future.

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Peroration

• Using TEEPEE to analyse texts helps students to
  provide sufficient detail and depth for
  Excellence.
• If they can perceptively analyse a familiar text,
  they can tackle an unfamiliar text.

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Unfamiliar Text

• For Albert Wendt (On His Birthday)
• By Karlo Mila

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Unfamiliar Text Firstly

• Scan the texts subject by first reading the
  sub-content
• Title - What does it reveal?
• Footnotes - What do the source notes and glossed
  words reveal?

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Secondly - Zoom in on TEE

• Read this unfamiliar text and like we did with
  our song
• Identify the most important technique, then
• Underline the most important examples of that
  technique.

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• For Albert Wendt (On His Birthday)
• By Karlo Mila
• you dare to fish
• beyond the coral reefs
• of our understanding
• your net pulls in poems
• flicking salty tales
• you find nuanua
• in the eye of hurricanes
• celebrate thunder
• we prefer not to hear
• and relish
• the quicksilver laughter
• of lightning
• you shake the tree

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Zoom In - TEE

• T - What is the most important technique used?
• E - What are the best examples to use?
• E - Explain the examples.

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Zoom In - TEE

• T - Extended metaphor
• E - your narrative is a tattoo? (The last
  stanza)
• E - Explain the examples.

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Zoom In - TEE

• E - Explain the examples.
• Wendts storytelling as a needle tattooing the
  story of Polynesian cultures onto society is apt.
  The image of his pen acting as a needle to write
  the stories of the culture, affecting even those
  with the thickest skin, lets the reader know
  Wendts stories are being heard. His stories
  blend old and new as well as different
  perspectives and have left a permanent mark on
  her life.

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Zoom out - PEE

• P - Purpose
• Why did she write the text?
• (Check the title!)
• E Elaborate
• Tone
• Response
• Links to wider world (Beyond the lines)
• E Evaluate
• Successful?
• Include quote bites throughout your answer.

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Zoom out - PEE

• P - Purpose
• Mila wrote the poem for Albert Wendt on his
  birthday as a gift to show her appreciation for
  his stories and to praise him for his craft.

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Zoom out - PEE

• E Elaborate
• Birthdays are a time to celebrate a person and
  Milas poem celebrates the writing and
  imagination of this man using direct address
  (you) in recognition ofthe gifts his life has
  brought to us all but especially those of
  Polynesian culture. The four different extended
  metaphors in each stanze use concrete nouns which
  have links to Wendts Samoan culture (fish, coral
  reefs, net, nuanua, frangipani) which shows her
  appreciation for his culture. The overall tone is
  appropriately positive to show that she likes the
  way he challenges them Dare to fish.. is
  imaginative beyond our understanding and
  optimistic you find nuanua in hurricanes. She
  is specific in her praise of him.

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Zoom out - PEE

• E Evaluate
• Milas beautiful poem successfully crafts
  extended metaphors to illustrate her strong
  appreciation of Wendt. She shows how his
  narratives have the power to get under the
  skin, unsettle but ultimately enlighten in a
  sacred ritual which will leave its mark
  (tattooing) upon current and future generations
  (genealogies). His poems are therefore powerful
  and permanent.

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Top Tips for Tackling Unfamiliar Texts

• The title is usually an important clue of the
  main idea the writer wants us to think about.
• A footnote will tell you the source of the text,
  which can give you a clue about the audience and
  purpose.
• Glossed words give useful definitions.
• Identify the most important language features and
  write notes/underline the text. (Dont choose
  alliteration!)
• Read the questions carefully and underline key
  words.

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Remember Use TEEPEE to analyse texts
convincingly and perceptively for Excellence.
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Remember

• Poems are like songs without the music.
• Poetry the best words in the best order.
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge

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More Familiar Texts Group work

• Read the lyrics to this familiar song and
• Use TEEPEE to convincingly and perceptively
  analyse the text.

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Battle Scars by Lupe Fiasco Guy
Sebastianhttp//www.youtube.com/watch?v_mPd_SDAr
yQfeatureplayer_detailpage
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• Hope the wound heals but it never doesThat's
  cause you're at war with loveYou're at war with
  love, yeahChorus These battle scars don't look
  like they're fading, Don't look like they're ever
  going awayThey ain't never gonna change, These
  battle...Never let a wound ruin meBut I feel
  like ruin's wooing meArrow holes, they never
  close from Cupid on a shooting spreeFeeling
  stupid cause I know it ain't no you and meBut
  when you're trying to beat the odds upBeen
  trying to keep your nods upAnd you know that you
  should knowAnd let her goBut the fear of the
  unknownHolding another lover strongSends you
  back into the zoneWith no Tom Hanks to bring you
  homeA lover not a fighterOn the front line with
  a poemTrying to write yourself a rifleMaybe
  sharpen up a stoneTo fight the tanks and drones
  of you being alone

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• I wish I never looked, I wish I never touchedI
  wish that I could stop loving you so muchCause
  I'm the only one that's trying to keep us
  togetherWhen all of the signs say that I should
  forget herI wish you weren't the best, the best
  I ever hadI wish that the good outweighed the
  badCause it'll never be over, until you tell me
  it's overThese battle scars, don't look like
  they're fadingDon't look like they're ever going
  awayThey ain't never gonna changeThese battle
  scars, don't look like they're fadingDon't look
  like they're ever going awayThey ain't never
  gonna changeThese battle...(Then just
  leave)You shouldn't have but you said it(And I
  hope you never come back)It shouldn't have
  happened but you let itNow you're down on the
  ground screaming medicThe only thing that comes
  is the post-traumatic stressesShields, body
  armours and vests don't properly workThat's why
  you're in a locker full of hurtThe enemy within
  and all the fires from your friendsThe best
  medicine is to probably just let it winI wish I
  couldn't feel, I wish I couldn't loveI wish that
  I could stop cause it hurts so muchAnd I'm the
  only one that's trying to keep us togetherWhen
  all of the signs say that I should forget herI
  wish you weren't the best, the best I ever hadI
  wish that the good outweighed the badCause it'll
  never be over, until you tell me it's
  over(Chorus)Cause you've set me on fireI've
  never felt so alive, yeahHoping wounds heal,
  but it never doesThat's because you're at war
  with loveAnd I'm at the point of breakingAnd
  it's impossible to shake itSee, you hoped the
  wound heals, but it never doesThat's cause
  you're at war with loveHope it heals, but it
  never doesThat's cause you're at war with
  love!Chorus

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Techniques - definitions

• 1. Metaphor/extended metaphor a direct
  comparison between two very different things,
  usually impossible. An extended metaphor is
  long/developed.
• 2. Direct address use of 2nd person pronouns
  you to talk to the reader.
• 3. Concrete noun a noun (thing) you can see or
  touch. Many similar nouns may indicate an
  extended metaphor.
• 4. Symbolism use of a concrete noun to
  represent an abstract noun (idea/feeling) or
  organisation.
• 5. Vivid Verb a verb (doing word) which is
  specific and has impact. May have a positive or
  negative tone.
• 6. Connotation ideas or feelings associated
  with a word.
• 7. Hyperbole exaggeration for effect.
• 8. Rhetorical question a question asked for
  effect.
• 9. Emotive language words that stir emotion in
  the audience.
• 10. Allusion reference to another literary work
  or text.

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What poems link with the song Battle Scars?

• Poems Shoved at Memorial Park

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• Shoved at Memorial Park
• By Marcel Currin
• A big kid is eyeballing my son.
• The big kid is four years old.
• I hate him already.
• Fletcher is two and a half,
• Trip-tropping over the playground,
• A tiny fish on a busy reef.
• Whirling colours of children
• Swirling over ladders, platforms, slides,
• Riding and fighting the eddies.
• Fletcher in baggy shorts.
• Finding the gaps
• For a quiet turn on things.

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Perfect by Pinkhttp//www.youtube.com/watch?v2
12iYwq0nQ0safeactive
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• Made a wrong turn, Once or twice
• Dug my way out, Blood and fire
• Bad decisions, That's alright
• Welcome to my silly life Mistreated, misplaced,
  misunderstood
• Miss "no way, it's all good", It didn't slow me
  down
• Mistaken, Always second guessing
• Under estimated, Look, I'm still around
• Chorus
• Pretty, pretty please
• Don't you ever, ever feel
• Like you're less than perfect.
• Pretty, pretty please If you ever, ever feel
• Like you're nothing
• You are perfect to me.
• You're so mean, When you talk, About yourself,
  You were wrong.
• Change the voices, In your head
• Make them like you Instead.

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Titanium by David Guetta featuring Sia
http//www.youtube.com/watch?vJRfuAukYTKgsafeac
tive
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• You shout it out,But I can't hear a word you
  sayI'm talking loud not saying muchI'm
  criticized but all your bullets ricochetYou
  shoot me down, but I get upChorusI'm
  bulletproof, nothing to loseFire away, fire
  awayRicochet, you take your aimFire away, fire
  awayYou shoot me down but I won't fallI am
  titaniumYou shoot me down but I won't fallI am
  titaniumSiaCut me downBut it's you who'll
  have further to fallGhost town and haunted
  loveRaise your voice, sticks and stones may
  break my bonesI'm talking loud not saying much
• ChorusI'm bulletproof, nothing to loseFire
  away, fire awayRicochet, you take your aimFire
  away, fire awayYou shoot me down but I won't
  fallI am titaniumYou shoot me down but I won't
  fallI am titaniumI am titaniumI am
  titaniumSiaStone-hard, machine gunFiring
  at the ones who runStone-hard as bulletproof
  glassChorusYou shoot me down but I won't
  fallI am titaniumYou shoot me down but I won't
  fallI am titaniumYou shoot me down but I won't
  fallI am titaniumYou shoot me down but I won't
  fallI am titaniumI am titanium

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Take It Easy by Stan Walkerhttp//www.youtube.c
om/watch?vuMT_kr-F7ZQsafeactive
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• Stronger days, Bitter nights,Cold hands, Warm
  heart,Walking round,But you're staring at the
  ground,Take hold, fall apart.ChorusLittle by
  little,Someone blows the whistle,It don't
  matter in the end,So just slow it all down, slow
  it all down.You gotta take it easy, easy,Live
  your life,Take on any kind of weather you and me
  together,We'll be fine,You gotta take it easy,
  easyTake your time,It's just you and me
  together any kind of weather,We'll be
  fine,Open road, broken down,Bright lights,
  dark town,Stand up then you fall again,You will
  find a way in the end.ChorusYou gotta take it
  easy, easy,Live your life,Take on any kind of
  weather you and me together,We'll be fine,You
  gotta take it easy, easy,Take your time,It's
  just you and me together any kind of
  weather,We'll be fine,

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Mirrors by Justin Timberlakehttp//www.youtube.
com/watch?vU41KPUfOSFksafeactive
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What poems link with these songs?

• Titanium by David Guetta
• Perfect by Pink
• Haunted by Taylor Swift
• Take It Easy by Stan Walker
• Mirrors by Justin Timberlake