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Be Specific

The document discusses the poem 'Be Specific' by Mauree Applegate, emphasizing the importance of using descriptive language to enhance the reader's experience of everyday objects. It outlines the poem's structure, main ideas, and various literary devices such as similes, personification, and onomatopoeia. The poet encourages readers to engage their senses and use specific words to create vivid imagery and emotional resonance.

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Eloise Emmerich
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40 views24 pages

Be Specific

The document discusses the poem 'Be Specific' by Mauree Applegate, emphasizing the importance of using descriptive language to enhance the reader's experience of everyday objects. It outlines the poem's structure, main ideas, and various literary devices such as similes, personification, and onomatopoeia. The poet encourages readers to engage their senses and use specific words to create vivid imagery and emotional resonance.

Uploaded by

Eloise Emmerich
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Be Specific

By M. Applegate
About the poet – see page 159

Mauree Applegate was born in 1897 in Atlanta, Illinois. She was


an educator, lecturer and writer. She was described as energetic,
vivacious and caring. Mauree was an associate professor with
the University of Wisconsin for 21 years. She was one of the
most prolific writers in its history.
Let’s read the poem:
• Follow on page 182 while I read the poem.
• Number the lines of the poem on the left-hand side.
• Structure:
 Free verse, no definite structure
 6 stanzas of varying lengths, 27 lines
 No fixed line lengths or rhyme scheme
• Main idea:
The poet is trying to encourage the reader to describe every day objects more
clearly and precisely by using descriptive words, strong verbs, comparisons (like
similes) and sound devices (like onomatopoeia) in order to celebrate the senses
given to the reader.
Vocabulary
oriole (line 2): A type of colourful European or North American bird.
Persian rug (line 10): A carpet woven in a traditional design incorporating stylized symbolic
imagery.
neon (line 15): Apart from being a gas, neon refers to a bright, intense shiny colour (often
used in advertising signs).
tree toad (line 17): Also called tree frog – have adhesive disks at the tip of each toe (for
climbing), usually found in Asia, Australia and America.
twanging (line 17): Refers to the sharp, vibrating sound similar to that of a string instrument
when plucked.
fiddle (line 17): A violin (string instrument).
strumming (line 18): The act of sweeping the thumb or a plectrum across the strings of a
string instrument.
Stanza 1

Don’t say you saw a bird; you saw a swallow


Or a great horned owl, a hawk or oriole
Don’t just tell me that he flew
That’s what any bird can do;
Say that he darted, circled, swooped or lifted in the blue. 5
Stanza 1
hawk

oriole
horned owl
swallow
circled darted
lifted

swooped
Stanza 1 – Write notes on page 180

• This stanza describes different types of birds.


• These birds all look different, have different characteristics
and special features.
• Everyone knows birds can fly.
• The poet makes use of strong verbs to describe the way in
which these birds fly, ‘darted, circled, swooped, lifted’.
• Sense: See/sight
• See pictures
Stanza 2

Don’t say the sky is behind the bird was pretty;


It was watermelon pink streaked through with gold;
Gold bubbled like a fountain simile
From a peppermint mountain
And shone like Persian rugs when they are old. 10
Stanza 2

watermelon pink golden sunset

Persian rug
Stanza 2 - Write notes on page 180

• This stanza describes the sky.


• The poet’s description focuses on all the different colours.
• Line 7 indicates that the time of day is sunset (pink and gold).
• Line 8: Simile – the golden light of the sun is compared to water
bubbling from a fountain.
• Line 9: ‘pepperminted’ – indicates a green mountain (covered in
plants/trees).
• Line 10: Simile – The sunlight is compared to the light that falls on an
old Persian rug.
• Sense: See (see pictures).
Stanza 3

Don’t tell me that the air was sweet with fragrance;


Say it smelled of minted grass and lilac bloom
Don’t say your heart was singing;
Name the tune it was singing, Personification
And how the moonlight’s neon filled the room. 15
Stanza 3

grass lilac bloom


Stanza 3 - Write notes on page 180

• Lines 11 & 12 focus on the sense of smell: ‘minted’ – something


that smells fresh, ‘lilac’ – purple flowers.
• Line 13: Personification – The poet gives the heart an ability to
sing, meaning you are happy.
• Lines 13 & 14: make use of the sense of hearing.
• Line 15: the sense of seeing is emphasised by describing how
the moon’s light shines very brightly into the room.
• See the pictures.
Stanza 4

Don’t say the evening creatures all were playing;


Mention tree toads twanging, screeching fiddle notes.
Picture cricket’s constant strumming onomatopoeia
To the mass mosquitoes humming
While the frogs are singing bass deep in their throats. 20
Don’t use a word that’s good for all the scenes.
Stanza 4

tree toad cricket

mosquitoes
Stanza 4 - Write notes on page 159

• This stanza makes use of the sense of hearing very effectively by


describing the sounds of insects that are active during the night.
• There are a lot of examples of sound devices in this stanza:
 Onomatopoeia: ‘twanging’, ‘screeching’, ‘strumming’, ‘humming’.
 Alliteration: ‘cricket’s constant’, ‘mass mosquitoes’, ‘tree toads
twanging’.
• In line 21 the poet says that one should use different words to
describe different scenes.
• See the pictures.
Stanza 5

There’s a word for every feeling one can feel


If you’d want your lines terrific
Then do make notes specific,
For words can paint a picture that is real 25
Stanza 5 - Write notes on page 160

• The poet emphasises the sense of feeling.


• The poet is reminding the reader that one can describe one’s
feelings by using specific and effective descriptive words.
• If one uses the descriptive words correctly, the reader will ‘see’
a picture painted with words.
Stanza 6

The message brought by the senses


Are among life’s greatest recompenses.
Stanza 6 - Write notes on page 160

• The poet ends her poem with a two-line stanza. It is shorter and
therefore stands out and places emphasis on the words.
• The poet left the most important advice for last:
 Use your senses when you want to appreciate and describe
something effectively.
 We are blessed with the gift (recompenses) of senses.
Answers page 162

1. Use your senses when you want to appreciate and


describe something effectively. By doing so life will be
rewarding.

2. The poet is trying to encourage the reader to describe


every day objects more clearly and precisely by using
descriptive words, strong verbs and adjectives,
comparisons (like similes) and sound devices (like
onomatopoeia) in order to celebrate the senses given to
the reader.
Answers page 162

3.1 Simile
Line 8: Simile – the golden light of the sun is compared to water
bubbling from a fountain.
Line 10: Simile – The sunlight is compared to the light that falls
on an old Persian rug.
3.2 Gold and watermelon pink.
4.1. Line 10: “Don’t say your heart was singing”
4.2.The poet gives the heart an ability to sing, meaning you are
happy.
Answers page 162

5. Onomatopoeia: ‘twanging’, ‘screeching’,


‘strumming’, ‘humming’.
6. The poet is reminding the reader that one can
describe one’s feelings by using specific and effective
descriptive words.If one uses the descriptive words
correctly, the reader will ‘see’ a picture painted with
words.
7. A.

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