Poetry: Narrative and Lyric
Poetry: Common Figures of Speech
“The Cremation of
Sam McGee”
SIMILE
• A comparison between two unlike things using
like or as
• Example: The old man walked as slowly as a
turtle creeping uphill.
• Example: “She sang like an angel.”
“Washed in Silver”
“Winter”
Poetry: Narrative Poetry
Poetry: Common Figures of Speech
• Narrative Poetry:
METAPHOR
• A comparison between two unlike things without
using like or as
• Example: The horse’s coat was a sheet of velvet.
• Example: “Life is a broken-winged bird that
cannot fly.”
• Poetry that tells a story. Like a story,
narrative poetry has a plot, characters, and a
setting.
• Unlike a story, a narrative poem makes use
of sound devices, such as rhythm and
repetition.
Poetry: Lyric Poetry
Poetry: Common Figures of Speech
• Lyric Poetry:
HYPERBOLE
• Exaggeration meant to produce a particular effect.
• Example: I tried a thousand times.
• Example: “The guard was twelve feet tall with
muscles of steel.”
• Verse that expresses a poet’s thoughts and
feelings about a single image or idea.
• Lyric poetry is written in vivid, musical
language
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“The Cremation of Sam McGee”
Poetry: Common Figures of Speech
Historical Background
In 1896, George Carmack,
Tagish Charlie, and
Skookum Jim discovered
gold on the Bonanza
Creek. This discovery
marked to beginning of the
Klondike Gold Rush.
PERSONIFICATION
• Giving human characteristics to a nonhuman
subject
• Example: The tree waved happily at us as we
walked along the road.
• Example: “The washing machine danced across
the floor.”
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“The Cremation of Sam McGee”
“The Cremation of Sam McGee”
• This is a narrative poem.
• Like a narrative written in prose, “The
Cremation of Sam McGee” will follow
the events of the plot diagram.
• This poem will use exaggeration,
humor, and fantasy to tell the tale of two
gold prospectors and the promises
made, promises kept.
“The only society I like is that which is rough
and tough—and the tougher the better.
That’s where you get down to bedrock
and meet human people.”
Robert Service
(1874-1958)
“The Cremation of Sam McGee”:
Review and Assess Questions
“The Cremation of Sam McGee”
•
•
•
•
•
Robert Service was born in England and raised in
Scotland.
He was sent to the Yukon Territory by the bank he
worked for.
There, he came face to face with the rough world of fur
trappers and gold prospectors.
2a. What problem does Sam McGee have with his
surroundings?
Sam McGee hates the cold temperatures of the
Yukon.
Soon, he began to write poems about these lively rough
and tumble characters.
Eventually, Service left the bank for a full time life of
writing. He traveled to the Yukon and other Artic areas
for eight years recording his adventures.
2b. What do Sam’s fears reveal about his
personality?
Sam has little ability to withstand the discomfort of the
Yukon elements.
2c. Why doesn’t Sam go home?
He wants to find gold in the Yukon territory.
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“The Cremation of Sam McGee”:
Review and Assess Questions
“Washed in Silver”
•
3a. Who is the speaker, and what does he promise
to Sam?
Cap is the speaker. He promises to Sam he will
cremate him if he dies.
•
•
3b. Why is the speaker so determined to keep his
promise?
Cap believes that promises are like “debts unpaid”.
•
“The Cremation of Sam McGee”:
Review and Assess Questions
•
4a. How does the speaker behave towards the corpse before he can cremate
it?
Cap complains about lugging it around, yet he sings to Sam’s body during his
journey.
4b. What does this behavior reveal about the speaker’s conflicting emotions
about fulfilling his promise?
Cap feel obligated to Sam and misses his friend, yet he resents the extra load.
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“The Cremation of Sam McGee”:
Review and Assess Questions
James Stephens grew up
in a poor neighborhood in
Dublin, Ireland.
He was a veracious
reader and read
everything he got his
hands on.
His writing and poetry
often includes his love of
Ireland’s powerful legends
and fairy tales.
“Washed in Silver”
captures the magical
quality of Irish legends.
“Winter”
Nikki Giovanni (b. 1943) is a worldrenowned poet, writer,
commentator, activist, and
educator.
Over the past thirty years, her
outspokenness, in her writing and
in lectures, has brought the eyes of
the world upon her.
One of the most widely-read
American poets, she prides herself
on being "a Black American, a
daughter, a mother, a professor of
English."
Giovanni remains as determined
and committed as ever to the fight
for civil rights and equality.
The author of some 30 books for
both adults and children, Nikki
Giovanni is a University
Distinguished Professor at Virginia
Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Comparing Literary Works
“The Cremation of Sam
McGee”
5a. What does the speaker find when
he opens the furnace door?
Cap finds Sam alive, well and warm.
5b. What reaction does the poet,
Robert Service, expect you to have
to this unexpected occurrence?
Service probably expects readers to be
surprised and amused by the ending.
“Washed in Silver”
Simile
Explanation
Metaphor
Explanatio n
Hyperbole
Explanatio n
Personificatio n
Explanatio n
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Comparing Literary Works
Literary Analysis Questions
“The Cremation of Sam McGee!
Simile
“cold like a driven nail”
2. The central conflict is Cap’s promise to
cremate Sam even when he is tired from
carrying the body and doesn’t have any fuel
to start a fire with.
The cold feels like a stab
Explanation
Metaphor
“a promise made is a debt unpaid”
Explanation
Comparing a promise made to another to paying off
money owed
Hyperbole
“chilled clean through to the bone”
3. The poem is different from a story in that it is
structured like a poem and it rhymes.
It is extremely cold
Explanation
Personification
“the heavens scowled”
“the stars came out and they danced about”
Scowling is a human attribute
Dancing is a human attribute.
Explanation
Literary Analysis: “Washed in Silver”
Literary Analysis: Questions
“Washed in Silver!
Simile
Explanation
Metaphor
Explanation
“washed in silver”
Comparing moonlight to silver
Hyperbole
Explanation
“blazing in silver”
The sea is reflecting the moon
Personification
Explanation
4. “Winter and “Washed in Silver” both focus on
nature. The feelings that are expressed in
each poem are also similar in that they both
communicate a feeling of awe about their
surroundings.
5. “Washed in Silver” would be the best poem to
set to music because it employs rhythm,
rhyme, and meter. “Winter” is written as a free
verse poem.
X
X
“the moon drives royally”
Driving is a human skill
Literary AnalysisSetting
Plot
Characters
Sam and Cap are Sam McGee
looking for gold.
and Cap
Cap promises to
cremate Sam if he
dies. Sam dies
and Cap cremates
him. Cap then
finds Sam alive
and warm in the
fire though he is
really dead.
The
Yukon
Territory
Dawson
Trail
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