Understanding Ode on A Grecian Urn

Today's lesson will be in two parts:

1) Reflect on our work last class, what we have learnt about my poem. We will consider my USE OF LANGUAGE in more detail too.

2) Change, edit, upload video, photos, comments etc to your own blogs. In short, try to ensure your blogs are up to date, with all tasks completed.

Part One
 We will read my poem again as a class.

Keep in mind some of your thoughtful and perceptive comments last class:

• Isabel mentioned that the speaker seems to idolize the urn, but is also rather resentful of it, especially in the last stanza (the "Cold Pastoral!"). His mood changes a lot. There is AMBIVALENCE. Why?

• Rocio alluded to the PERMANENCE of the urn's art in contrast to the TRANSIENCE of our own lives. (This may have been inspired by my own life - my relationship with Fanny, which was cut short by my illness and death less than two years after writing this: with death coming ever closer, we begin to appreciate how mutable - and how FINITE - our world truly is)
• Many of you noticed my use of nature in the poem, again used to explore themes of transience (the trees shedding their leaves, for instance).

Task 1 - Reflection on your mock urns.
Take another look at those inspired pieces of art you have created. Bask in their brilliance; marvel in their miraculous form; perspire in their power; etc.

Now grab a "critical friend" - someone you may not necessarily usually work or talk to. Discuss the following for TEN MINUTES and be prepared to feed back to class. (Keep a record of your notes - I will want you to upload your comments along with your photos/video of the urns in Part 2!!)

• a) What elements of my poem do you think you understand more after completing the urn task? (This could be aspects of language, images, metaphors, similes, development of ideas, sounds, whatever...). Explain.

• b) Has the urn task raised any questions or doubts about my poem that you would want answered? What are they?

• c) What skills were important for you to use in order to complete the task successfully (which you all did, by the way. The way you worked was very impressive...)?

Task 2 - Further close analysis

Equipped with an initial understanding of the poem and some of its main concerns, we must now look deeper as to how I use LANGUAGE and STYLE to present ideas. So get your thinking hats on as we enter what lies "BETWEEN THE LINES"...

Jot down ideas as you reread the poem and think about the poem. Add your notes to your blog...


STANZA ONE
(We will look at this one together before I leave you to work unaided)

Why is the urn compared to a " still unravish'd bride"?

• "still" has two meanings - "motionless" or "remaining in time". Time and motion are two concepts that the poem explores throughout.
• "unravish'd" means unspoiled - a bride yet to lose her virginity; similarly, the urn and the scenes it represents are "unspoiled" by the passage of time.

Explain the term "sylvan historian"(l.3)

• The urn is a "Sylvan historian" because it records scenes from a culture lived long ago (ancient greeks); and because it is bordered with leaves, as well as having scenes of the countryside within.
• Is it paradoxical that the urn, a "bride of quietness", can tell its stories "more sweetly than our rhyme" (meaning the poem itself)?
• The gentleness of the term "sylvan historian" and his "flowery tale" told "sweetly" do not prepare us for the wild sexuality of lines 8-10. (Another contrast!)

What change in viewpoint occurs in lines 8-10?

• The short questions and frequent repetitions inject pace into the poem. Notice how the speaker moves from contemplative observer to emotionally-involved participant with these breathless questions. (We have another contrast - that of the participant vs the observer). You may want to think about how I develop this idea throughout, and what it might suggest about the audience's relationship with "Art" in general...

STANZA TWO

Your turn to provide some answers to these burning questions... 

In lines 1-4 I contrast the ideal (in art, love, and nature) and the real - the "heard melodies"; which does my speaker seem to prefer at this point? How can you tell?

Is the idea of unheard pipes an oxymoron?

In lines 5-10 we begin to sense a negative undercurrent to the ideal, to frozen time. How do I use language to help convey this negativity?




PART TWO:
Blog editing
You should work on your blog to ensure you are up to date with all the activities. I need to spend some time with the newbies to help them get set up while you do this...

Here is how your blog will be assessed (you will receive your final mark for the blog at the end of March when I bid you all "adieu".

0 - You have not even set up your blog and are really lazy must try harder

1-2 - You have set up a blog, provided me with a link, and copy and pasted some ideas from the web. You have failed to show any engagement with the activities or any real understanding. You may have several missing posts.

3-4 - You have copy and pasted a lot of material, although there is some sense of basic understanding of some of my poems. Some posts may be missing.

5-6 - You may have included some interesting posts, and showed an adequate understanding of some of my poems, but you have not finished all the work that was set. You may have occasional copy/pastes, but mainly you will use your own words.

7-8 - You have used your own words, and finished all the posts. You have shown through the blog a growing appreciation of my poetry, providing some interesting insights into themes, language and style, as well as linking the poetry to the context in which it was produced.

9-10 - You have done everything mentioned above, but have also provided more detailed, thoughtful responses. You have used a variety of media and sources to show your understanding. Your work shows a high degree of care, attention, and effort. Your ideas are well supported by evidence and justification.

(If you have time, you may wish to watch this video to encourage you to think more about the poem's themes, and CONNECT the speaker's experiences with my fantastic urn to your own.

• How much do you agree with the video's interpretation of my poem? 
• Is there anything you disagree with? Why?
• You might want to consider the urn as a symbol of "art", for instance...)