EC2 English Language
“Out, Out -”
Our week
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Quiz
Dictation
Unseen text reading task
Notes
HW: revise key vocabulary and type a
15-mark question
Dictation - Source: Wikipedia
Robert Lee Frost (March 26, 1874 – January 29,
1963) was an American poet. His work was
initially published in England before it was
published in America. He is highly regarded for
his realistic depictions of rural life and his
command of American colloquial speech.
Key vocabulary
● buzz saw, snarled, rattled,
dust, stove-length, Vermont
● call it a day, apron, rueful,
appeal, spoiled, ether, affairs
Synonyms for sadness
○ sorrow, dejection, regret, depression,
○ misery, cheerlessness, downheartedness,
○ despondency, despair, desolation, wretchedness,
○ glumness, gloom, gloominess, dolefulness, melancholy,
○ low spirits, mournfulness, woe, broken-heartedness,
○ heartache, grief
Buzz saw
Vermont
“Out, Out -”
○ Paper 2
○ 15 marks / 45 minutes
■ How does the writer try and bring out the sadness of
the boy’s death in the poem?
● In your answer you should write about:
○ The time and the setting.
○ What happened to cause the fatal accident.
○ The reactions of the boy and the other people.
○ The use of language.
Jigsaw: Read and jot down big ideas (use vocabulary) to
answer the following questions. Split the task into two with a
partner and share ideas.
● How does the writer use the time period and the location to
bring out the sadness of the boy’s death in the poem?
● How does the writer bring out the sadness of the boy’s
death in the poem by describing the cause of the fatal
accident?
● How does the writer bring out the sadness of the boy’s
death in the poem by the reactions of the boy and the other
people?
● How does the writer bring out the sadness of the boy’s
death in the poem with the use of language?
● How does the writer use the time period and
the location to bring out the sadness of the
boy’s death in the poem?
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Farm - boy - job of a man - dangerous machines - risk
■ too young/innocent
almost quitting time - sadness - irony - accident-free all day
supper - boy must be hungry - hears his sister - loses his concentration
sunset and mountains - boy must work - can not enjoy the imagery of the
environment: does not see the natural beauty - working
■ Little leisure
Juxtaposition of the earthy scented chopped wood as a positive image olfactory imagery - boy does not pay attention to such pleasures before his
death
1916: WWI
How does the writer bring out the sadness of the boy’s death in
the poem by describing the cause of the fatal accident?
○ Buzz saw: Onomatopoeia of the buzz compares it to a
violent animal - making “dust” foreshadows the accident
and the boy’s death
■ Dust = “dust to dust, ashes to ashes”
○ Supper: sister distracts the boy: high risk vs. age: tragic
○ boy: “must have given his hand” - suggestive of the
young boys volunteering to fight in WWI
○ The tragedy seems inevitable - “neither refused” compare WWI and deaths
How does the writer bring out the sadness of the boy’s death in
the poem by the reactions of the boy and the other people?
○ Boy
■ Distracted - thinking about the pleasure of eating
supper - pity
■ rueful laugh - apologetic - regrets losing his
concentration
■ begs for his hand not to be amputated - extreme
pain - extreme accident - understand the extent of
the injury
● Hand Symbolism - work and man’s ability to take
control of his own life - before we know he dies,
pity him for the loss of his hand
How does the writer bring out the sadness of the boy’s death in the
poem by the reactions of the boy and the other people?
○ Other people
■ callous - they get back to work - reader questions the
value of a boy’s life circa 1916
● - compare to soldiers fighting in WWI
■ family does not seem to grieve - family relationships on
farm - work and chores come before grief and emotions
● Death seems to be normal or accepted
■ sister: mother figure (all family members work) but the
reader does not see her reaction in any detail
● Perhaps: reflection on the censorship of the press
during WWI - people at the home front did not know
about the growing causalties
How does the writer bring out the sadness of the boy’s death in
the poem with the use of language?
○ allusion to the death of MacBeth’s wife in
Shakespeare’s play in the title
○ juxtaposition of the visual and olfactory imagery of
nature as beautiful with the tragic death of the boy
○ caesura with a colon - tension
○ oxymoron: rueful laugh
○ zoomorphism: giving an inanimate object animal-like
qualities
○ Direct speech
○ sibilance
● Structure
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34 lines
Short sentences
Use of the conditional
No stanzas - brief - not developed - compare to the boy
Blank verse: unrhymed and iambic pentameter: 10 or 11 syllables per line:
Shakespeare used blank verse to write MacBeth
Narrative poem
Caesura, line 9, marks a shift in the tone: foreshadows a change from the
pastoral beauty
Words like and and then: quick pace: reflect the boy’s short life
● Read the poem as a class.
● Label literary devices and discuss the meaning of each line.
● Link to the poem:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/53087
Homework for …
1. Revise key vocabulary for a quiz
2. Type and submit to Turnitin
“Out, Out -”
○ Paper 2
○ 15 marks
■ How does the writer try and bring out the sadness of the
boy’s death in the poem?
● In your answer you should write about:
○ The time and the setting.
○ What happened to cause the fatal accident.
○ The reactions of the boy and the other people.
○ The use of language.