This post contains the texts that you will be assessed on in class on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Examine the visual text (painting) and the literary text (poem) posted below.
Remember the strategy that we discussed in class:
C.E.I.
1. Make a claim (What can you see? Examine the text).
2. Explain your claim (Use evidence and examples to justify your claim).
3. Interpret (Extend your thinking - why did the poet, artist etc. use the technique? What are they trying to communicate with you, and how. Make observations and connections, infer information, link to your wider knowledge).
VISUAL TEXT - Painting Landscape with the Fall of Icarus c. 1558 by Pieter Bruegel
Pieter Bruegel (about 1525-69), usually known as Pieter Bruegel the Elder to distinguish him from his son, was the first in a family of Flemish painters. Pieter Bruegel the Elder, generally considered the greatest Flemish painter of the 16th century, is by far the most important member of the family. He was probably born in Breda in the Duchy of Brabant, now in The Netherlands. His paintings, including his landscapes and scenes of peasant life, stress the absurd and vulgar, yet are full of zest and fine detail. They also expose human weaknesses and follies.LITERARY TEXT - Poem Icarus, by Christine Hemp
Icarus
It was his idea, this flying thing.
We collected feathers at night, stuffing
our pockets with mourning dove down. By day,
we'd weave and glue them with the wax
I stole after we'd shooed the bees away.
Oh, how it felt, finally, to blow off Crete
leaving a labyrinth of dead-ends:
my clumsiness with figures, father's calm
impatience, cool logic, interminable devising.
The sea wind touched my face like balm.
He thought I'd tag along as usual,
in the wake of his careful scheme
bound by the string connecting father and son,
invisible thread I tried for years to untie.
I ached to be a good-for-something on my own.
I didn't know I'd get drunk with the heat,
flying high, too much a son to return.
Poor Daedalus, his mouth an O below,
his hands outstretched to catch the rain
of wax. He still doesn't know.
My wings fell, yes - I saw him hover
over the tiny splash - but by then I'd been
swallowed into love's eye, the light I've come to see
as home, drowning in the yes, this swirling
white-hot where night will never find me.
And now when my father wakes
each morning, his bones still sore
from his one-time flight, his confidence undone
because the master plan fell through,
he rises to a light he never knew, his son.
ABOUT CHRISTINE HEMP: Hemp's poetry and essays are heard on NPR's Morning Edition and her work is published widely. She has worked with such groups as Los Alamos Laboratory scientists, Harvard and University of Washington students, National Park Rangers, corporate lawyers, and Native American tribes, as well as the U.S. Navy. She has also has broken new ground in England and the U.S. by uniting youth offenders and police officers, using writing as a tool for crime prevention. Read more on her website: http://www.christinehemp.com/index.htmlWe collected feathers at night, stuffing
our pockets with mourning dove down. By day,
we'd weave and glue them with the wax
I stole after we'd shooed the bees away.
Oh, how it felt, finally, to blow off Crete
leaving a labyrinth of dead-ends:
my clumsiness with figures, father's calm
impatience, cool logic, interminable devising.
The sea wind touched my face like balm.
He thought I'd tag along as usual,
in the wake of his careful scheme
bound by the string connecting father and son,
invisible thread I tried for years to untie.
I ached to be a good-for-something on my own.
I didn't know I'd get drunk with the heat,
flying high, too much a son to return.
Poor Daedalus, his mouth an O below,
his hands outstretched to catch the rain
of wax. He still doesn't know.
My wings fell, yes - I saw him hover
over the tiny splash - but by then I'd been
swallowed into love's eye, the light I've come to see
as home, drowning in the yes, this swirling
white-hot where night will never find me.
And now when my father wakes
each morning, his bones still sore
from his one-time flight, his confidence undone
because the master plan fell through,
he rises to a light he never knew, his son.
YOUR WRITTEN RESPONSE
In part B you will be asked to write a paragraph about the following:
It has been said that this myth deals with the following themes: "captivity and escape, ingenuity and creativity, flight and fall, success and failure" (J.E.Nyenhuis 2003). Select one pair of themes and discuss how well they fit the idea of a journey for either Daedalus or Icarus.
It will help you to go to the Moodle page and look at the 4 step paragraph planner there. You might like to plan a response in preparation for the assessment using this format. This method of writing is what I will be looking for in your response.
You can also view the videos below as more sources of the myth:
Source: Jim Henson's The Storyteller - Greek Myths, Sony Pictures (2006)
Also look at these interesting interpretations:
You can also view the videos below as more sources of the myth:
Source: Jim Henson's The Storyteller - Greek Myths, Sony Pictures (2006)
Also look at these interesting interpretations:
