Elements of Literature - Long Branch Public Schools

English 10 Mr. Rooney (Rm. 227) "What Happened During the Ice Storm" by Jim Heyden Elements of Literature Fourth Course

Objective: TSWBAT articulate a well-constructed opinion about "What Happened During the Ice Storm" by discussing the story's literary elements, and comparing it with other stories that explore the same plot and setting.

1. The Do Now a. "Tree branches glistened like glass. Then broke like glass." - Simile (pg. 1005) - What sort of imagery is evoked by the simile "like glass"? - Complete and Incomplete Sentences b. "Some of them lifted their heads and turned them from side to side, but they were blindfolded with ice and didn't flush." - Metaphor (pg. 1000) c. Brief Recap of the Story

2. Word(s) of the Day a. Pheasants b. External Conflict (pg. 997)

3. Round-table Discussion a. Length of the story - Plot b. Setting - Functioning as a character c. Farmers, Livestock, Barns, Pheasants, Gravel Roads, Barbed-Wire, Grass Seeds, Fields d. The Boys e. "The boys had not brought clubs, or sacks, or anything but themselves." f. "Things around them were shining and dripping with icy rain." g. The Ending - "He covered two of the crouching pheasants with his coat, rounding the back of of it over them like a shell." - The Farmers Vs. the Boys

4. Excerpt from "To Build a Fire" and White Fang by Jack London a. Man Vs. Nature b. Compare and contrast stories

5. Writing Exercise a. Please write one paragraph describing a winter setting. Please use at least two similes and one metaphor in your writing. Please use complete sentences.

6. Homework a. Please read "By the Waters of Babylon" by Stephen Vincent Benet - pg. 265 - 272 in your Elements of Literature textbook

English 10 Mr. Rooney "What Happen During the Ice Storm" by Jim Heynen The Do Now

Please underline the complete sentence once, double-underline the incomplete sentence twice, and circle the simile.

"Tree branches glistened like glass. Then broke like glass."

A complete sentence has both a noun and a verb. An incomplete sentence only has a noun or a verb, but not both. A simile is a figure of speech that compares two things using the words "like" or "as".

Examples of Complete Sentences:

Jan went to the store. The deer ran into the woods. My cousin ate three plates of nachos.

Examples of Incomplete Sentences:

Went to the store. Ran into the woods. My cousin three plates of nachos.

Examples of Similes:

My love is a like a red, red rose. You were as brave asa lion. They fought like cats and dogs.

English 10 Mr. Rooney "What Happen During the Ice Storm" by Jim Heynen Word(s) of the Day a. Pheasant "Pheasants ... are long-tailed birds of open woodlands and fields, where they feed in small flocks." "The males of most species are strikingly coloured; the females are inconspicuously coloured." "The pheasant prefers grain fields near brushy cover." "The green pheasant of Japan is mainly metallic green. It is sensitive to earth tremors not felt by humans and calls in concert when a quake impends."1 b. External Conflict External conflict is the struggle between a character and an outside source such as nature or another character. In Lord of the Flies, the boys are stuck on an island. This is an example of a character conflicting with nature. Throughout the novel, the characters Jack and Ralph argue. This is an example of a character conflicting with another character. Often, conflict in a narrative story is discussed as: Man vs. Man Man vs. Nature Man vs. Society Man vs. Self Internal/ External Conflict

1"pheasant". Encyclop?dia Britannica. Encyclop?dia Britannica Online. Encyclop?dia Britannica Inc 2015. Web. 07 Sep. 2015.

English 10 Mr. Rooney "What Happen During the Ice Storm" by Jim Heynen Round-table Discussion

To begin the discussion, please talk quietly amongst your peers about the story. Based on your assigned group, reread the paragraph and write down five (5) ideas or thoughts for discussion.

Group 1:

One winter there was a freezing rain. How beautiful! people said when things outside started to shine with ice. But the freezing rain kept coming. Tree branches glistened like glass. Then broke like glass. Ice thickened on the windows until everything outside blurred. Farmers moved their livestock into the barns, and most animals were safe. But not the pheasants. Their eyes froze shut.

Group 2:

Some farmers went ice-skating down the gravel roads with clubs to harvest the pheasants that sat helplessly in the roadside ditches. The boys went out into the freezing rain to find pheasants too. They saw dark spots along a fence. Pheasants, all right. Five or six of them. The boys slid their feet along slowly, trying not to break the ice that covered the snow. They slid up close to the pheasants. The pheasants pulled their heads down between their wings. They couldn't tell how easy it was to see them huddled there.

Group 3:

The boys stood still in the icy rain. Their breath came out in slow puffs of steam. The pheasants' breath came out in quick little white puffs. Some of them lifted their heads and turned them from side to side, but they were blindfolded with ice and didn't flush. The boys had not brought clubs, or sacks, or anything but themselves. They stood over the pheasants, turning their own heads, looking at each other, each expecting the other to do something. To pounce on a pheasant, or to yell Bang! Things around them were shining and dripping with icy rain. The barbed-wire fence. The fence posts. The broken stems of grass. Even the grass seeds. The grass seeds looked like little yolks inside gelatin whites. And the pheasants looked like unborn birds glazed in egg white. Ice was hardening on the boys' caps and coats. Soon they would be covered with ice too.

Group 4:

Then one of the boys said, Shh. He was taking off his coat, the thin layer of ice splintering in flakes as he pulled his arms from the sleeves. But the inside of the coat was dry and warm. He covered two of the crouching pheasants with his coat, rounding the back of it over them like a shell. The other boys did the same. They covered all the helpless pheasants. The small gray hens and the larger brown cocks. Now the boys felt the rain soaking through their shirts and freezing. They ran across the slippery fields, unsure of their footing, the ice clinging to their skin as they made their way toward the blurry lights of the house.

English 10 Mr. Rooney "What Happen During the Ice Storm" by Jim Heynen Excerpts from Various Stories Exploring the Themes of Man vs. Nature and Man vs. Man

"To Build a Fire" by Jack London

Empty as the man's mind was of thoughts, he was most observant. He noticed the changes in the creek, the curves and the bends. And always he noted where he placed his feet. Once, coming around a bend, he moved suddenly to the side, like a frightened horse. He curved away from the place where he had been walking and retraced his steps several feet along the trail. He knew the creek was frozen to the bot- tom. No creek could contain water in that winter. But he knew also that there were streams of water that came out from the hillsides and ran along under the snow and on top of the ice of the creek. He knew that even in the coldest weather these streams were never frozen, and he also knew their danger. They hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep, or three feet. Sometimes a skin of ice half an inch thick covered them, and in turn was covered by the snow. Sometimes there was both water and thin ice, and when a man broke through he could get very wet.

That was why he had jumped away so suddenly. He had felt the ice move under his feet. He had also heard the noise of the snow-cov- ered ice skin breaking. And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger. At the very least it meant delay, because he would be forced to stop and build a fire. Only under its protection could he bare his feet while he dried his socks and moccasins.

He stood and studied the creek bottom and its banks. He decided that the flowing stream of water came from the right side. He thought a while, rubbing his nose and face. Then he walked to the left. He stepped carefully and tested the ice at each step. Once away from the danger, he continued at his four-mile pace.

During the next two hours he came to several similar dangers. Usually the snow above the pools had a sunken appearance. However, once again he came near to falling through the ice. Once, sensing dan- ger, he made the dog go ahead. The dog did not want to go. It hesitated until the man pushed it forward. Then it went quickly across the white, unbroken surface. Suddenly it fell through the ice, but climbed out on the other side, which was firm. It had wet its feet and legs. Almost immediately the water on them turned to ice. The dog made quick efforts to get the ice off its legs. Then it lay down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes. The animal knew enough to do this. To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet. It did not know this. It merely obeyed the commands that arose from the deepest part of its being.

But the man knew these things, having learned them from expe- rience. He removed the mitten from his right hand and helped the dog tear out the pieces of ice. He did not bare his fingers more than a minute, and was surprised to find that they were numb. It certainly was cold. He pulled on the mitten quickly and beat the hand across his breast.

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