Page 60 - SpringBoard_ELD_Grade8_Flipbook

Interacting in Meaningful Ways: Analyze Mood
Learning Targets
• Analyze and explain in conversation and writing how mood produces effects on the reader.
• Evaluate and explain in conversation and writing how effectively the author uses mood.
• Express and justify opinions in conversation and writing by providing text evidence.
Mood
Walt Whitman in his poem “O Captain! My Captain!” creates a mood of shocked mournfulness over the death of the ship’s captain. Mixed in with this sorrowful mood is also a joyful mood of celebration as the excited crowds welcome the ship home. In this activity, you will analyze how Whitman creates these moods and evaluate how he does it.
Skim through poem looking for nouns, verbs, and adjectives that evoke an emotional reaction. Write five more examples in the chart. Then find synonyms for each word. Try to find synonyms that carry a different connotation. Consult a thesaurus to help you locate synonyms. Evaluate how the synonym changes the poem’s mood.
ACTIVITY 3.6
Verbs from the Poem
synonyms
evaluation of change in Mood
weather’d
endured or survived
endured or survived are less poetic, emotional terms and don’t convey a sad, stately mood as well as weather’d does
nouns from the Poem
synonyms
evaluation of change in Mood
adjectives from the Poem
synonyms
evaluation of change in Mood
Unit 1 • The Challenge of Heroism • Part 3: “O Captain! My Captain!” 37
Language
Resources
synonym: a word that has
the same or a very similar definition as another word connotation: the emotional association that a word carries Thesaurus: a book or online tool that shows words that are related to each other; a book of synonyms
ACAdeMIC VoCAbuLARY
evoke is a verb that means
to bring about or to cause to
happen. Words, imagery, and
pictures can evoke or cause
feelings or memories. evocative
describes a work that evokes
strong feelings or memories. A
picture of a flag with an eagle
flying over it might be described
as evocative because it brings
about feelings of patriotism in
the United States.
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