Mentor close read — Angelou's diction and syntactic compression

Pair share: what did you notice in your homework annotation? Name one Pass 2 move you marked.

• Listen for noticings of diction, syntax, imagery
• Affirm specific noticings

Today we read Angelou's 'Phenomenal Woman' — a poem that carries every craft move on this term's syllabus. We will close-read it using the 3-pass routine. Notice especially Angelou's DICTION — her word choices are simple, concrete, sensory. Notice her SYNTACTIC COMPRESSION — short lines, punchy verbs, deliberate repetition. As we read, we add new Tier-2 vocabulary: MOTIF (a recurring image or idea), SYMBOL (an image standing for a larger idea), CHARACTERIZATION (how the speaker is built), POINT OF VIEW (first-person here), IRONY (when surface meaning and deeper meaning diverge). Today is also the launch of your SENTENCES I ADMIRE notebook section — collect 2 sentences from this poem and copy them into your notebook with notes on why you admire them.

• Concrete diction makes the speaker physically present to the reader.

  model 'The arch of my back,' 'the sun of my smile,' 'the swing in my waist' — concrete, embodied, sensory diction. No abstractions.

  prompt Identify the diction Angelou uses to describe the speaker.
• When something repeats, ask: what does the repetition DO?

  model 'I'm a woman / Phenomenally. / Phenomenal woman, / That's me.' — repeated as a refrain. The repetition is anaphora; the refrain becomes a motif.

  prompt Identify the recurring phrase. Is this a MOTIF?

• Pair-share: name the motif and explain what it does.
• Cold Call: define point of view and identify it in this poem.

M-7-S-VOC-02-A Chart

MG-19 Tier-2 Set 16 word grid displayed: 20 literary-analysis precision words with 1-sentence definitions. Today's 5 words highlighted. Print-ready 18x24.

MG-19 Chart

Tier-2 Set 16 literary-analysis precision vocabulary anchor: 20-word grid. WORDS: diction, syntax, imagery, tone, mood, motif, symbol, characterization, point of view, irony, ambiguity, juxtaposition, allusion, foreshadowing, metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole, paradox, theme. Each cell: word + 1-sentence definition + example-of-use-in-analysis ('Angelou's DICTION is sensory and concrete.' / 'The SYNTAX shifts from long flowing sentences to short fragments at the moment of trauma.' / 'The IMAGERY of caged birds runs through the chapter as a MOTIF.' / 'The POINT OF VIEW is first-person retrospective.' / 'Hughes uses HYPERBOLE in line 4 to amplify the speaker's outrage.'). Print-ready 18x24, dyslexic-friendly font.

• 3-pass close read of 'Phenomenal Woman' with 5-color annotation.

  scaffold Anchor at desk; partner-check at 10-minute mark
• Copy 2 'sentences I admire' from the poem into your notebook. Note: the moves you see + why you admire them.

  scaffold MG-23 anchor template

• Define MOTIF in your own words and name one motif in 'Phenomenal Woman.'

• Restate: motif = recurring image/idea; symbol = image standing for larger idea
• Preview tomorrow's mentor close read (Cisneros 'My Name')

• Add Tier-2 Set 16 words (motif, symbol, characterization, point of view, irony) to your vocabulary notebook with definitions and example sentences.