Diction Analysis Through Grammar Study- “The Witch” by Jack Prelutsky

Student commentary on Diction:

Activity 2: In your part of speech group, comment on the author’s use of that part of speech, concentrating on its link to meaning. Explore the connotations of the words (associations and emotions associated in your mind) with the words the author has chosen. Discuss the words you found in the analysis activity as a group, then write the connotations below in sentence form. Be prepared to share with the whole group. When other groups share their ideas with you, add notes to complete your chart.

List the Parts of Speech / Comments about Connotation
Verbs:
Adverbs:
Nouns:
Adjectives:

Diction Analysis through Grammar Study-“The Witch”

Analysis of Tone and Theme

Activity 3: Use the toolbox sheet “A Sampling of Tone Words” to help you find the tone of this poem using the diction analysis from activity 2. A sentence frame is included to guide you as you formulate your idea.

The poem has a ______tone that tells the reader “______”. Explain further giving any details and examples from the text that you can from activity 2.

______

Activity 4: Use the toolbox sheet “Thematic Ideas in Literature” to choose a thematic idea word and complete a fill-in-the-blank statement about “The Witch”. The assertion in this statement will be directly related to the ideas presented in this poem.

Example:

Work: Watsons Go To Birmingham—1963 Thematic idea: Coming of age [growing up]

In The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963, Christopher Paul Curits presents the idea that coming of age is a difficult transition that takes many twists and turns but in the end can result in one person changing not only their life for the better, but the lives of those around them.

Work: ______Thematic idea: ______

In ______, ______presents the idea that

(name of literary work) (name of the author)

______

(thematic idea) (assertion about what the literature teaches the reader about the thematic idea)

______

______

______

(qualifying clause: when, because, unless, even, so that, whether, if, etc.)