Hotel room 12th Floor

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Hotel room 12th Floor

• S5

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Title

• Sometimes the title of a poem can give us a great
  insight into the subject of the poem. Before we
  read any further, I want you to look at the title
  and create a mind map to reflect what
  words/images/ideas/emotions these words evoke for
  you.
• Now share your ideas with a partner. Be prepared
  to share your ideas with the rest of the class.

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Vocabulary

• Re-read the poem and write down any words that
  you are unsure of. Take a few minutes to look up
  any unfamiliar words in a dictionary and write
  the definitions in your jotter. I will quiz
  you...

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Establishing the basics

• Read the poem carefully and construct some notes
  for yourself under the headings
• WHO
• WHAT
• WHERE
• WHEN
• WHY
• to help you identify the situation or story of
  the poem.

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Understanding

• Once you have done this, you will be asked to use
  your notes to write a diary entry from the
  perspective of the speaker, where you tell the
  story of what happened to you that day. You
  should include as much detail as you can,
  including information on how you felt at the time.

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Diary Entry

• Aim for 1 -2 sides of A4
• Write in the past tense
• Use as much description as possible
• Try to show the emotions of the speaker at
  different points in the poem

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Storyboard

• Use your notes to help you to draw a storyboard
  of events. You should include as much detail as
  possible in your pictures and label each box with
  an appropriate caption from the poem.

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Questions Verse One

• What time of day is the poem being written?
  b)What words reveal this?
• Where is the poem set?
• Write down a phrase that describes the Empire
  state building. b)How does this reveal the poets
  attitude?
• To what does the poet compare the helicopter in
  lines 2-3? b) In what two ways are they alike? c)
  How does this reveal his attitude?
• What is the poet describing in the last lines of
  the verse?

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Questions Verse Two

1. Where is the poet in verse two? b) How do we know
   this?
2. Name two sources of the sounds that the poet
   hears outside.
3. How many words remind you of the wild west? b)Why
   has the poet done this?
4. What are coldwater flats?
5. Explain the contrast between verses one and two.

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Questions Verse Three

1. What is a frontier?
2. What is a stockade?
3. Why does the poet use these words?
4. What does he mean by keeping the midnight out?
5. Do you think this is a positive or negative
   conclusion to the poem? Why?
6. What do you think is the overall message of the
   poem?

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Summary

• Hotel Room 12th Floor is a poem in three verses
  which reflects upon the nature of urban violence
  in NY. The poem conveys MacCaig perceptions of
  NY by day and night. He looks out with contempt
  initially from his hotel room window and
  describes the ugliness of a skyscraper city and
  as night falls he lies in bed listening to the
  sounds of the city at night and reflects on the
  corruption and violence of society. The poem
  ends by suggesting that darkness and violence are
  always near and impossible to escape from.

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Poetic Techniques

• Now that we understand WHAT is happening in the
  poem and WHAT MacCaigs message is, we now must
  think about HOW he chooses to express this
  message.
• MacCaig uses many techniques to express his
  opinions . An understanding of these techniques
  and their effects are CRUCIAL to success in the
  higher course.
• On the following slide you will see a number of
  poetic techniques and their definitions.
• Can you match them up?

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Personification
Point-of-view
Alliteration
Synecdoche

• Onomatopoeia

Imagery
Repetition
Connotation
Simile
Metaphor
Allusion
denotation
Hyperbole
Euphemism
The repetition of initial consonant sounds.
The use of words which imitate sound.
Words or phrases that appeal to any sense or any
combination of senses to create a mental picture.
A comparison between two objects with the intent
of giving clearer meaning to one of them.
The repeating of words, phrases, lines, or
stanzas.
The meaning suggested by a particular word
A reference to another time, work, person, etc.
The dictionary definition or literal meaning of a
word
the vantage point of the speaker, or "teller", of
the story or poem.
A comparison between two objects using a specific
word or comparison such as "like", "as", or
"than".
A description of a non-human or its actions that
seem to give it human characteristics.
An exaggeration of any sort, added for effect.
In which a part is used to represent a whole
An understatement, used to lessen the effect of a
statement.
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2Personification
3Point-of-view
4Alliteration
1Synecdoche

• 5Onomatopoeia

6Imagery
7Repetition
9Connotation
8Simile
12Metaphor
11Allusion
10denotation
13Hyperbole
14Euphemism
4The repetition of initial consonant sounds.
5The use of words which imitate sound.
6Words or phrases that appeal to any sense or any
combination of senses to create a mental picture.
12A comparison between two objects with the
intent of giving clearer meaning to one of them.
7The repeating of Words or phrases,
9The meaning suggested by a particular word
11A reference to another time, work, person, etc.
10The dictionary definition or literal meaning of
a word
3the vantage point of the speaker, or "teller",
of the story or poem.
2A description of a non-human or its actions that
seem to give it human characteristics.
13An exaggeration of any sort, added for effect.
8A comparison between two objects using "like",
"as", or "than".
1In which a part is used to represent a whole
14An understatement, used to lessen the effect of
a statement.
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Verse One

• The first verse is concerned with the poets
  view from his window in New York city. He
  recalls the morning when he was looking out on
  the huge city from a hotel room on the 12th floor
  of a skyscraper. In the morning light, the poet
  surveyed the landscape with the marvels of New
  York City laid out before him. The first verse
  is full of visual description as he watches the
  helicopter fly round the Empire State building
  and eventually land on the roof of the PanAm
  building. Soon, night falls and the tower blocks
  light up with countless electric lights to
  (literally) combat the darkness and it is from
  this moment that the poet speaks to us. He is
  obviously unimpressed by what he sees and this
  verse reveals his contempt for human greed and
  desire to hide behind wealth and material
  possessions..
•  

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Analysis

• How is his contempt revealed to the reader?

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Quotation Technique How does this quotation reveal MacCaigs attitude?





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Verse Two

•   The second verse is more concerned with aural
  images. MacCaig is now lying in bed in the hotel
  room, surrounded by technological advancements
  (radio and TV) while chaos is breaking out on the
  streets below. He listens to the anarchy unfold
  and the sounds he hears are terrifying the
  sirens of emergency vehicles and the harsh
  screaming cannot be drowned out by the TV. He
  compares the violence on the streets to the
  violence of the Wild West.

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Analysis

• How does MacCaig convey fear and violence?

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Quotation Technique How does this quotation reveal MacCaigs attitude?





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Verse Three

• Frontier line between settlers and unsettled
  savage land in 18th C America
• Stockades forts/fences built to keep the Native
  Americans out
• Verse 3 is a strong conclusion to the poem where
  he steps back and offers an opinion on what he
  has seen and heard. The sentences are a lot
  shorter in this verse and the sentence structure
  is more simplistic here than in the rest of the
  poem. This verse is more philosophical and
  reflective than the other verses and represents
  the result of MacCaigs thoughts and
  observations, that humanity cannot escape from
  the darkness within itself.

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Analysis

• How does MacCaig create a pessimistic mood?

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Quotation Technique How does this quotation reveal MacCaigs attitude?
frontier Word choice
Stockades Word choice
Midnight personification


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The message of the poem

• The last verse is a strong conclusion to the poem
  as MacCaig comments on what he has seen and
  heard. The ending is quite pessimistic and he
  employs wild west imagery to convey his ideas.
  He is basically saying that the frontier, (the
  imaginary line between the savagery of the native
  Americans and the civilisation of the pioneers)
  is not somewhere else but in fact still exists
  in all of us. The boundary between good and evil
  is a perpetual concern for him.
• Midnight is personified and is seen as a
  malevolent, lurking presence. The darkness
  represents the evil and violence in mens souls
  that is forever present just below the surface.
  He uses strong, decisive words no, never etc
  to develop the sense of despair and misery that
  his experiences have evoked.
• His final thoughts are that humankind cannot
  protect themselves from evil by building
  monuments to consumerism or stockades (PanAm,
  Empire state etc VERSE 1) but instead they must
  look inward and solve humanitys problems by
  addressing poverty and crime midnight/darkness
  (broken bones, harsh screaming VERSE 2). It is
  only in this that humanity will have any hope for
  the future.

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Hotel Room 12th Floor

• This morning I  watched  from here
• a helicopter skirting like a damaged insect
•  
• the Empire State building, that
• jumbo size dentists drill , and landing
• on the roof of the PanAm skyscraper.

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• But now  Midnight  has come in
• from foreign places .
• Its uncivilised  darkness 
• is shot at  by a million lit windows, all
• ups and acrosses . 

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• But midnight is not
• so easily defeated. I lie in bed, between
• a radio and a television set, and hear
• the wildest of warwhoops continually
• ululating through

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• the glittering canyons and gulches
• police cars and ambulances racing
• to broken bones, the harsh screaming
• from coldwater flats, the blood
• glazed on the sidewalks.

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• The frontier is never
• somewhere else. And no stockades
• can keep the midnight out.

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CEL

• Why write a CEL?
• To show that we have understood the poem
• As evidence of our next steps and strengths
• To practice for the final exam

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CEL

• Choose a poem which describes a scene or
  incident vividly. Briefly state what is being
  described and then go on to show how the poetic
  techniques used make the descriptions vivid

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What should i include?

• An essay will fail if
• Technical accuracy is poor
• Candidate doesnt understand text
• Candidate doesnt answer question
• Essay is too short
• Quotations are too few/not explained
• The next few slides will help you t o avoid these
  common mistakes.

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Introductions

• Introduction the first part of any essay is the
  introduction. A useful structure to use when
  writing an introduction is TAST.
• T text
• A author
• S summary
• T task

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Sample

• The poem Hotel Room 12th Floor by Norman
  MacCaig is a thought provoking poem that
  reflects upon the nature of urban violence in New
  York City as he describes what he sees and hears
  from his hotel room window. The poem conveys
  MacCaigs perceptions of New York by day and
  night making use of skilful techniques to paint a
  convincing and vivid picture of the harsh reality
  of the city.

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Planning

• You must plan your essay to make sure that you
  answer the question properly.
• You will be expected to write at least 10
  paragraphs in total. An introduction, a main body
  and a conclusion.
• Choose 8 things to discuss in order to answer the
  question. These will become the focus of your
  eight paragraphs.

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Structure

• A CEL is an argument so each point must relate to
  your overall argument e.g how MacCaigs
  descriptions are made vivid.
•  A good way to structure your paragraphs is using
  PQCE.
• P point
• Q quotation 
• C-comment
• E-evaluation

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Point

• Your point is your topic sentence where you say
  what you will talk about in that paragraph and
  show how it relates to the overall question.
• To introduce a point
• Firstly, secondly, also, in addition to this,
  moreover, furthermore, as well as this,
• the poet
• introduces, develops, explores, illustrates,
  highlights, conveys, portrays, comments on,
• To help the reader visualise grasp/understand/appr
  eciate the scene being described

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Linking

• In order to make your paragraphs flow well and to
  create a clear line of thought in your essay, it
  is important that you use linking words and
  phrases to connect your ideas.

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Using Quotations

• All quotations must be placed quotation marks.
• They must be copied out exactly as they are in
  the text.
• Your quotation must link to your point

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Comment

• After you have written your quotation you must
  explain how the quotation supports your topic
  sentence.
• Does the author use any literary techniques?
• To introduce a comment 
• This simile, metaphor, use of word
  choice/alliteration/symbolism
•  suggests, implies, evokes, illustrates,
  highlights, conveys, denotes, indicates,
  expresses, is symbolic of, contrasts with,

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Evaluative Language

• When we are writing a Critical Evaluation of
  Literature it is very important that we evaluate
  the text.
• This means that we have to make it clear that we
  have our own opinion of the text.
• However, it is not very sophisticated to say I
  liked this because this is very good because
  all of the time.

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Evaluation

• You should choose a word or phrase form the
  quotation to evaluate (discuss how effective it
  is) in helping to answer the question.
• To introduce evaluation
• This is a very  striking, shocking, interesting,
  important, significant, suggestive, expressive,
  crucial, vital,  
• image, simile, metaphor, use of word
  choice/alliteration/symbolism/characterisation/set
  ting etc etc  
• as (key word/phrase)
• suggests, has connotations of, alludes to,
  symbolises,

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Sample

• Firstly, MacCaig provides a vivid description of
  NY city by day as he looks out at the cityscape
  from his window. He sees a helicopter flying over
  the Empire State Building a jumbo sized
  dentists drill. The metaphor seems to suggest
  the shape of the building and its menacing
  appearance. The use of the word jumbo is
  interesting as the poets contempt for the
  American desire to have the biggest of everything
  is revealed here. The ESB is regarded as a
  monument to the American way of life and that is
  what is being attacked here.

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Conclusion

• Conclusion a useful structure to use when
  writing a conclusion is TAST.
• T text
• A author
• S sum up
• T task

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Self Assessment

• Now we have finished the unit, it is important
  to consider
• What you have enjoyed about Hotel Room 12th
  Floor
• What you have learned.
• The skills youve gained that you can use in
  the future.

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Self Assessment

• Write down at least three skills you have gained
  that you would be able to use again (in English,
  in another subject or at home).
• What could YOU improve on and how would you do
  this?

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Brooklyn Cop

• S5

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CEL

• Choose a poem where the poet expresses
  criticism about a particular aspect of society.
  State briefly what this is and go on to show how
  the poet effectively communicates his ideas to
  you