Paul F Davis
Paul F Davis
  • 3 months ago
Life Coach and English Teacher

POEMS THAT PROPEL THE PLANET ~ https://www.amazon.com/dp/1794116877

Reading, Critical Thinking & Student Leadership ~ https://www.amazon.com/dp/1731168845

COLLEGE ADVICE ~ https://www.amazon.com/dp/1797943006

COLLEGE MATCH and SELF-DISCOVERY ~ https://www.amazon.com/dp/1980473560

COLLEGE ADMISSIONS ~ https://www.amazon.com/dp/1798295903

International Student Engagement Success Strategies ~
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BSJ6HVSG

College Admissions Secrets & Interview Strategies ~ https://www.amazon.com/dp/1982904836

College and Career Counseling ~ https://www.amazon.com/dp/1980678790

PaulFDavis.com
EducationPro.us
Tinyurl.com/PaulFDavis-Books (Paul's Books)
TeachersPayTeachers.com/store/PaulFDavis (Paul's Lessons)

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Transcript
00:00Figurative and Literal Language.
00:03This is a very timely and important English lesson
00:08because it helps students to discern between the difference
00:12and the very important difference
00:13of figurative versus literal language
00:16because in English, words have multiple meanings
00:19based on the context in which they're being used.
00:21So I'm gonna read through two short poems,
00:24Holy Sonnet's Death Be Not Proud being the first,
00:29and the second is gonna be called Harlem,
00:32which is another interesting poem in and of itself,
00:36and we're going together learn
00:39what the intent of the writer is as we dissect the text
00:44and hopefully with the kind help of my lovely fiancee
00:47in the Philippines, she will be able to sync this video
00:51and share with you the text on the screen
00:54as I talk through it.
00:56Death be not proud, though some have called thee,
01:00now this is old King James English.
01:03Sometimes you need to translate
01:06or master the word thee
01:10or change the word thee to you
01:13and make those distinctions, which I will do for you.
01:16Death be not proud, though some have called you,
01:19the word thee essentially means you,
01:22mighty and dreadful, for you are not so.
01:26For those whom you think you dost overthrow,
01:29die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me
01:35from rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
01:38much pleasure then from thee, much more must flow,
01:42and soon our best men with thee do go.
01:46In other words, we're all going to die
01:48and death is not something any of us can escape.
01:53The rest of their bones and souls' delivery,
01:55you are slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
01:59and thus with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
02:01and poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
02:05and better than thy stroke.
02:07Why swellest thou then?
02:09One short sleep pass, we wake eternally,
02:12and then death shall be no more, death shall die.
02:16Now here we have a British clergyman
02:20who was a priest in the church
02:22and he was writing about death
02:24because he himself got sick for some,
02:27say up to 14 years or longer,
02:30and some speculate that he had typhoid back in the 1600s
02:35when he was alive and he thought he may die.
02:37He ended up living about 20 years longer than he expected
02:40and he was trying to reconcile
02:43and make peace in his own heart with death.
02:45And the text, when I first taught it in Miami,
02:48in Miami, Florida, as a school teacher there,
02:51provided a short paragraph and mentioned
02:54that portion of the priest's life
02:57and how he thought he was going to die
02:59and he had a disease and an illness,
03:01and he was writing a poem to death
03:03because as a believer in eternity,
03:05he did not want to have death be overly proud or arrogant
03:10as to his fleshly departure or his life on earth ceasing
03:16because he believed there would be eternal life thereafter,
03:19and even though the flesh or the body would die,
03:21he believed the soul and the spirit would remain
03:22and go after and thereafter be with God.
03:26So as the clergyman wrote and stated,
03:29others, as I mentioned here in this text
03:31and provided you additional notes there below,
03:34it is actually mentioned in Corinthians 15, verse 26,
03:38the last enemy shall be destroyed is death.
03:42And this was a connection to a biblical text,
03:46which, and again, in social studies,
03:49when you take a lot of standardized tests,
03:50you'll see overlap between social sciences,
03:53religion, culture, anthropology, political science,
03:56and sometimes these nuances are not discerned by students
04:01and sometimes they miss these subtle references
04:04because things are all connected culturally
04:07and geographically and historically and spiritually,
04:11and this is how we can discern
04:14the deeper meanings of the text,
04:16and in fact, a man who was a priest,
04:19his position inspired him to write such a spiritual poem,
04:23wrestling with eternity and the concept of death,
04:26which is not a very beautiful
04:28or desirable topic to discuss for many,
04:31yet he dived into it and tackled it wholeheartedly
04:34with all boldness and confidence,
04:36saying death should not be proud
04:38because there is an eternal life
04:40to be gained upon physically dying.
04:42Now, my next poem, Harlem by Langston Hughes,
04:46is another short poem, but very powerful indeed.
04:49What happens to a dream deferred?
04:51Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun
04:54or fester like a sore and then run?
04:56Does it stink like rotten meat or crust and sugar over?
05:00Like syrupy sweet, maybe it just sags like a heavy load
05:04or does it explode?
05:05So here I sense and I discern and feel
05:10that the poet, Langston Hughes,
05:13is not really writing about Harlem,
05:15which is a city or a place, a region,
05:17within New York City there in Manhattan,
05:20but rather he's talking about the state of mind
05:23and emotional state that we all wrestle with
05:27as children and adults when we have dreams
05:30and maybe we feel those dreams or goals
05:33are not being achieved fast enough
05:35and they're festering and rotting within us like meat
05:38and we're not going after them
05:39and we're dying within and we feel like
05:41we're being cheated out of our life
05:43and we are getting angry sometimes
05:46and frustrated or disappointed, even depressed
05:49and agonizing and despairing of life
05:52because we feel like the dreams
05:54that we truly have burning in our heart
05:58are not being fulfilled and if we don't see
06:02any progress in that direction to fulfill them,
06:05we could feel like we are dying on the inside
06:08and that's precisely what Langston is getting at.
06:10So the first poem is more literal, addressing death,
06:13whereas this poem, Harlem, is more figurative language
06:17where you have to discern,
06:19we're not really talking about meat,
06:20we're talking about the typology or the symbolism
06:24and the similarity of when meat rots.
06:29As you know, meat has to be preserved with salt
06:31or a freezer, a frozen temperature on ice,
06:36but unlike meat, our dreams cannot necessarily be preserved,
06:40they can only be pursued and as we go after
06:43and pursue to do and to live our dreams,
06:46therein is fulfillment.
06:47Oftentimes success and the joy is found in the journey,
06:51at least we're moving forward and making progress
06:53and that process can be fulfilling
06:55and feed us on the inside,
06:57but when we are not living our dreams,
07:01we can feel like we're dying and going backwards
07:04and depleting or being dwarfed or diminished
07:07and disintegrating and coming undone on the inside
07:11or even becoming increasingly angry and ready to explode,
07:15which is the very last word that was mentioned
07:18as well as the second last line, the heavy load,
07:21the burden, the emotional baggage and burden
07:24of carrying dreams that are not being fulfilled,
07:27but yet you see them, you wanna do them,
07:29you wanna pursue them, but maybe you're stuck in a job
07:32or a responsibility or a family
07:35and you have other things that are weighing you down
07:39and holding you back and you can't seem to break out
07:41or to break through and it is an agonizing,
07:45inner emotional turmoil that is being mentioned
07:49in this short poem as it were similarly likened
07:54unto rotten meat on the inside of our own souls.
07:58So this poem encourages us to recognize
08:03this is what happens when we don't attend to our dreams,
08:06we get caught up in wasting time on TV
08:08or meaningless friendships or relationships
08:10or pursuits for playing video games
08:14or doing things that really don't add to us
08:16or cause us to grow or mature or increase or advance
08:20and here we see the mighty importance,
08:24the great importance of pursuing our dreams
08:27and living them because life is short
08:28and we all have an expiration date,
08:30our life is merely a dash between two dates
08:33and we all must live purposefully and powerfully
08:36so we can be fulfilled and happy
08:38and these two poems have great significance
08:41and similarity though they be both literal language usage
08:46and figurative language usage,
08:48but they all talk about fulfillment,
08:50whether it's spiritual and eternal
08:52or fulfillment in your daily pursuits in life
08:55and living your dreams and not merely
08:57putting them on the back burner
08:58and letting them agonize and torment you on the inside
09:02and make you feel like you're going backwards
09:04and rotting within.
09:06So something for us all to think about
09:08regardless whether we are a position of a leader
09:11or that of an academic or a teacher or a student,
09:14we all need to live our dreams and pursue them
09:17and live purposefully and be mindful of eternity
09:20because we all have an expiration date
09:23so we should love one another and live purposefully
09:24and powerfully, respectfully with humility
09:27and life will be so much more meaningful, I promise you.
09:31So bless you, my friends.
09:33Thank you for your time and your attention
09:34to listen to this short transformative
09:37and life-changing lesson.