EC2 English Language
Electricity Comes to Cocoa Bottom
Tasks
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Grabbing your attention
Dictation
Homework assignments
General questions
Reading task
Specific questions
Poem analysis
Where was this photo taken?
Jamaica: Discussion questions
1. Where is it located?
2. What is the population?
3. What does the island look like, eg. vegetation and
infrastructure?
4. What language do they speak?
5. What do people eat on the island?
6. What music is popular?
7. What is it like to live in a village on the island?
Dictation
Then all the children of Cocoa Bottom
went to see Mr. Samuel’s electric lights.
They camped on the grass bank outside
his house, their lamps filled with oil,
waiting for sunset, watching the sky turn
yellow, orange.
Homework for
1. Redo one PEE paragraph from your
December exam.
2. Revise this week’s literary techniques and
language use for a quiz.
3. Revise this week’s key vocabulary for a quiz.
4. Type an essay.
Quiz - Explain or define the following:
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free verse
enjambment
caesura
pluperfect tense
participles
persona
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modernisation
culture
fireflies
peep
swoop
lanterns
sway
verandah
silhouette
flutter
swell
bowed
General questions
● Who is Marcia Douglas?
○ Born in England
○ Grew up in Jamaica (understanding)
○ PhD in African-American and Caribbean Literature
(educated)
○ Compares different cultures and attitudes in the
Caribbean
General questions
● What is free verse?
○ No rhyme scheme
○ No rhythm
○ Modern poetry
○ Effects:
■ Greater freedom for choosing words and meanings
■ Greater use of sounds and punctuation
General questions
● What is enjambment?
○ Moving from one line to another
○ No punctuation at the end of a line
○ Effects: fast pace; connects ideas
● What is caesura?
○ Pause or stop
○ Punctuation: , : - .
○ Effects: dramatise; adds tension
● What is mood?
General questions
● What is mood?
○ Emotional atmosphere
○ Created by word choice (diction), setting, themes and
tone
○ Effects: evokes emotions
General questions
● What is the function of colons and dashes?
○ Colon: explanation or a list; use after a complete
sentence
○ Dash: add emphasis, interrupt or show a change
General questions
● What is the difference between the past tense and the
pluperfect tense? What is the function of each?
○ Past tense: actions completed in the past
○ Pluperfect tense: look back on previous events in the
past
● What are participles? What is the function of participles?
○ Participles: verb + ing
Reading task
● Highlight the simple past tense verbs (-ed or irregular
verbs) in one color.
● Highlight -ing participles in another color.
● Underline the pluperfect examples.
● Summarize the poem activity.
Reading task
● Highlight the simple past tense verbs (-ed or irregular
verbs) in one color.
○ Went, camped, filled, peeped, waited, swooped, held,
stopped, came, rose up, bent, whispered, was, heard,
was
● Highlight -ing participles in another color.
○ Waiting, watching, congregating, coming, swaying,
closing, closing, smiling, arising, fluttering, swaying,
swaying, swelling, swelling, stretching
Reading task
● Underline the pluperfect examples.
○ had lit, had passed
● Summarize the poem activity using 10 words. The 10
words do not need to be a sentence.
○ past, electricity, excitement, normalcy, Cocoa Bottom,
modernisation, Jamaica, nature, culture
Questions
● What techniques does the writer use?
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free verse
caesura: dashes and colons
Enjambment: commas or no punctuation
onomatopoeia
past and past perfect tenses
participles
repetition
visual imagery
mood
juxtaposition
Personification
alliteration
Find and identify examples of the following
○ caesura: dashes and colons
○ enjambment: commas or no punctuation
○ onomatopoeia
■ Tweet-a-whit 23
○ Repetition
■ closing 17, swaying 24, swelling 27
○ visual imagery
■ Yellow, orange 6, cable … like a pencil line across
the sun 9, bowed
Find and identify examples of the following
○ Mood
■ camped 3, waiting 5, congregating 13, held its
breath 14, evening came as soft as chiffon curtains
16, Closing. 17, Light! 18, swaying 24, swelling 26,
bowed heads 29, none - 32, too late 37
○ Juxtaposition
■ natural vs. unnatural: light
■ how nature reacts vs. how society reacts
Find and identify examples of the following
○ Personification
■ Kling-klings … congregating 12-13
■ breeze … held it breath 14
■ long grass bent forward … like so many bowed
heads 28-29
■ wind whispered 30
○ Alliteration
■ Comes to Cocoa Bottom
■ wind whispered 30
Questions
● What major themes does this poem explore?
○ Modernisation
○ Nature
○ Culture
○ Religious experiences
○ Attitudes toward new technology
Vocabulary
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peep 8
fireflies 10
swoop 12
congregate 13
sway 15
chiffon 16
verandah 19
gasp 21
Vocabulary
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flutter 22
tweet-a-whit 23
swell 27
bowed 29
mongoose ferns 34
Poem analysis
Questions
● How does the writer describe the feelings of the people?
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Patient + technique
Growing anticipation + technique
Excitement + technique
Curious but uncomfortable + technique
Proud (status) + technique
Pleasure + technique
Regret + technique
Disappointment + technique
Questions
● How does the writer describe the feelings of the animals?
○ Awe + technique
○ Excitement + technique
○ Respect + technique
○ Reverential + technique
Questions
● How does the writer use words, phrases and techniques
to show the moods?
○ Verb tense + mood
○ Imagery + mood
○ Free verse + mood
○ Personification + mood
○ Pathetic fallacy + mood
○ Analogies + mood
Typed essay
● Page 61
○ How successfully does the writer present an
atmosphere of excitement and anticipation?
■ You should write about:
● The feelings of the people
● The feelings of the animals and nature
● The writer’s use of the senses
● The writer’s use of techniques, structure and
verb tenses