HW: Online Scavenger Hunt! Our Course
Policy sheet is on our webpage.
• Your job: Find it, print it out, sign it, and
have a parent/guardian sign the sheet as
well. Bring this in on Friday.
• Summer Reading Exam on Friday!
Aim: What do you believe the
point of A Long Walk to Water is?
 DN: Think of a time in which you learned a lesson
from a story. What was the message you learned?
 HW:
1. Find the Course Rules sheet, print it, sign it, review it
with a parent, and have them sign it. Bring this in on
Friday.
2. Summer Reading Exam this Friday! Study! Study! Study!
3. Bring in money for the Adventureland trip by Friday.
4. Have you found a planner or agenda book?
How does Shonto Begay’s tone set
the mood for his poem in the first
stanza of “In My Mother’s Kitchen”?
DN: What is your brightest
childhood memory?
 HW: (Bring in Wed.): Google search the painting
“The Guitarist” by Pablo Picasso. What feelings do you
get from this picture? Who do you think the old man
is? Why do you think this? (HINT: It is understood that
he is blue. BUT what does “blue” imply?)

(Bring in Thursday) Google search: “Black Mesa
Navajo” write down any interesting facts about Black
Mesa that you can find.
What is your brightest
childhood memory?

What is diction?

Diction

Brightest: How does this word help to define the type of
childhood memory you are being asked about? Why
do you think I chose this word?

Let’s go back to the aim. What literary elements or
devices are featured in the Aim?

Setting

Tone

Mood

How does the tone and mood work in tandem to
help to create a setting?
Focus Questions for Stanza 1
 How
does Begay’s use of alliteration in lines 1
and 2 create a warm feeling for the reader?
 How
 How
does this establish a setting for his poem?
does the contrast in lines 3 and 4 aid to
the mood of the poem and further add to the
setting?
Aim: How can we analyze the
elements of Pablo Picasso’s
“Old Guitarist” to develop our
own opinions of the piece?

DN: Is the following true or false? “There is only one
meaning behind a piece of writing or art.”

HW: Google search: “Black Mesa Navajo” and answer
the following: Where is Black Mesa? What is it? Who
lives there? What interesting facts about Black Mesa
did you find?
Aim: What is the purpose of Begay’s
choice of language in the second
stanza of “In My Mother’s Kitchen”?

DN: What comes to mind when you hear the
word “language”?

HW: (Bring in on Tuesday): Create a list of three
“things” that are opposites, but seem to go
together. Describe why/how even though they
are opposites, they work together. HINT: Create
a chart to do this.
Denotation v. Connotation



Denotation: the literal meaning of the word. This is
basically the dictionary meaning.
Connotation: the figurative meaning of the word.
The way the word is used in everyday speech. This
can be based on the feeling the word gives the
reader.
Let’s focus on the word “halo” to see the
difference between literal and figurative.
What are the denotative and connotative
meanings of:
Word
Hot
Cold
Warm
Cool
Denotative
Connotative
Juxtaposition

The purposeful use of contrasting ideas placed
next to each other for a desired effect. Think of a
more advanced, in-depth version of oxymoron.

Imagine reading a happy scene in a book. The
next scene is sad. Because the sad scene comes
after the happy scene, the sad scene actually
feels sadder than it really is and the happy scene
feels happier.
In My Mother’s Kitchen
Focus Questions
 What
is the purpose of juxtaposing light and dark in
lines 8 and 9?
 How
is juxtaposition used again in line 10? What is
the purpose of using this contrasting language?
 What
do you believe the mother is thinking about
when she “gazes out into the warming day. . .”
(lines 11-12)? What does this image make you think
about?
 Why
does Begay end the stanza with a question
that reads like a statement? What does this tell us
about his state of mind?
Aim: How does Begay
change the mood of the
poem in stanza three?

DN: When someone's tone of voice changes,
what happens to the atmosphere of the
room?

HW: Find three things or objects that are
opposites, but go together. Why/how do
these go together? Put this into a chart.

TEST on the poem on Thursday!
Focus Questions

What changes do you observe between stanza 2
and stanza 3?

How does Begay initiate this change?

How can a person have “dreams and warmth tight
in my throat”? If not literally, then what is Begay
saying about his childhood dreams?

How does this change the overall feel of the poem?

What does the word “softly” in line 17 do to the feel
of the poem?
Aim: How does Begay use
juxtaposition and parallel
structure to add to the
characterization of his
mother?

DN: Look back at your notes and questions from
stanza two. In your own words, what is
juxtaposition? Write down this definition.

HW: TEST on the poem on Thursday!
Focus Questions

Read lines 21-22.

What do we learn about the mother
because of the structure of the sentence?
 What

makes this sentence parallel?
Read lines 23-24.
 What
makes something “bittersweet”? How can
you break down the word into two separate
words to decipher its meaning?
 Taking
lines 23-24 as a whole, what do you
believe has caused Begay to “ache in my
heart”?