Mrs. Bell S Analysis of Student Essays on the Prelude by Wordsworth

Mrs. Bell’s analysis of student essays on The Prelude by Wordsworth

Prompt: In the passage below, which comes from William Wordsworth’s autobiographical poem The Prelude , the speaker encounters unfamiliar aspects of the natural world. Write an essay in which you trace the speaker’s changing responses to his experience and explain how they are conveyed by the poem’s diction, imagery, and tone. – What type of diction, imagery, and tone?

Things to do/notice/ways to interpret…

 Wordsworth is both the poet and the speaker – It is ok to refer to him as Wordsworth (last name) in the poem. Always distinguish between the speaker and writer, even in this case.

 Note that The Prelude, though a poem is italicized (it is a book length poem), so underline or italicize the title in your essay.

 It’s good to do a quick (few sentence) plot summary in the intro to let the reader know you know what is happening.

 You know to expect a changing response to his experience in nature it is up to you to reveal this through his techniques. I’d like to see you do more than just note the change and shift…that’s the easy part. Take it deeper and ask yourself WHY there is a shift (we know when it happens… when he sees the mountain).

 Approaches to Diction (embed the diction in the story of the poem – term, quote, effect):

1st half of poem – you can indicate line #’s if you want 2nd half of poem Euphony- “troubled pleasure” (juxtaposition creates conflict Cacophony - “huge peak, black and huge” “craggy steep” early) “Of mountain echoes did my boat move on” “Small circles (connotation of craggy?) “struck and struck again” “grim shape glittering idly in the moon” towered up” “left my bark” “hung a darkness…blank desertion” “melted all into one track of sparkling light” “one who rows proud” “rose upon the stroke, my boat …like a swan” Darker word choice, indicating something larger and ominous/monstrous/dangerous – “steep” “black” “huge” Fixed diction: unswerving line, chosen point, fixed view… “power instinct” “upreared its head” “struck” “grim” “growing” Sensuous diction: lustily, proud, trembling, swan, stroke… “towered” “strode after me” “huge and mighty forms that do not live like living men” Pleasant, lighter, adventurous word choice indicates speakers control of himself and environment, and his goals, and his Demonstrates his uncertainty, primordial fear of unknown, aesthetic appreciation – “summer evening” “willow tree…usual projection of inner struggle - “grave and serious mood” “stole” home” “stealth and troubled pleasure” “glittering idly in the “covert” “trembling oars” “dim and undetermined sense of moon” “melted into one track” “sparkling light” “proud of his unknown modes of being” “o’re my thoughts hung a darkness” skill” “fixed my view” “unswerving” “horizon’s utmost boundary” “blank desertion” “no familiar shape…no pleasant image” “stars” “lustily I dipped my oars” “like a swan” “trouble to my dreams”

Shift happens around line 22 Motif (repetition) of huge, struck, dark…  Must place your quotes in context of the plot of the poem – single word quotes will only do so much, even when dealing with diction. Ex: Phrases like “glittering idly” and “sparkling light” are tools that Wordsworth uses to express a happy and carefree tone. (needs context)

 T erm (Euphony)/Quote (see above)/Effect (Not only are there tranquil images in the first part of the poem, but the euphonic diction creates a pleasant feeling as well, which adds to the apparent comfort of the speaker. This creates a more dramatic contrast when the speaker comes in view of the ominous peak).  Approaches to Imagery (and figurative language):

1st half of poem 2nd half of poem

Small images of a “little boat” “small circles” of water. Larger, masculine images of the “huge peak, black and huge” “huge an mighty forms…moved slowly through the mind” Willow and cave as sheltering, protecting, familiar. A “craggy ridge” is on his horizon line, but as he draws near his Sunset and summer evening as pleasant but foreshadowing perspective changes and he is able to see a huge peak/mountain darkness. rising above the ridge.

Boat as an archetype for journey, direction, control “elfin Mountain is personified and takes on an archetypal and symbolic pinnace” – mystical and magica, feminine, sensuous. His rowing meaning of its own: “black and huge, as if with voluntary power is strong, in control, graceful, natural, swan-like. instinct upreared its head…with purpose of its own and measured motion like a living thing, strode after me” – like a monster (can Archetype of Night sea journey – out of control, directionless. contrast with the earlier simile of a swan). The uncontrollable Lake is subconscious, unknown traits of nature, fate. Changed his view – nothing felt safe or Simile of the swan – peaceful, white, innocent, soaring/flight familiar or even human anymore. Haunted by this indefinable force. Stars=goal, boundless, limitless

 Approaches to tone (save tone for last if possible – could even be in your conclusion):

1st part of poem 2nd part of poem

Childlike? Skeptical? Tranquil, peaceful, adventurous, nature is Fearful, timid, dark, sinister, looming power, latent power, meant for man to explore and control, awe and newness, uncertainty, loneliness/solitude/solitary, man against nature, confident, comfortable, curious nature is dangerous uncontrollable, the larger macrocosm of reality cannot be grasped/tamed/conquered

 Poem could be explored as an allegory for his life or realization of adulthood or reality

 What is our role in/with nature? Is nature meant to be understood by us? Is nature a refuge/haven or callous and unforgiving or both? Is nature a reflection of us (spiritually)? Do we project our inner latent fears on our outer environment?

 The title could be brought in at the beginning or more effectively in the conclusion… this is only the beginning of his troubled dreams: a prelude to some greater realization.

 Organization ideas – first body paragraph addresses first part of poem (diction then imagery =tone) second body paragraph addresses second part of poem (diction then imagery = tone). Questions to think more deeply about…misreads, mistakes:

 Spelling… Arrrgghhh. Fix it now!

 Apostrophes… speaker’s thoughts

 Misread – not acknowledging or mentioning the role of the mountain or peak. It is not an alien or sea monster or ghost… it is a mountain: Though it could symbolize a multitude of things for the speaker.

 Is he trying to conquer the mountain? Is the mountain evil? And did he fail?

 Don’t ignore the “troubled pleasure and stealth” in the beginning. He doesn’t go from perfectly happy to totally sad…it is always more subtle than that.

 Don’t ignore the last couple lines of the poem – they are usually significant. Parallel structure, freight train… driving the poem in a quick cadence/tempo. What is the effect of this?

New Vocabulary Words:

Ubiquitous: everywhere at once, in the air, all around, ghostly

Parallax: displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight