Assignment
PART 1: In the poem "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein (see below), locate, number, and list twenty examples of different uses of language to create specific kinds of meanings and construct different patterns. These can be literal and figurative. Please be specific. There are, of course, many different kinds of meaning and language structures that produce these meanings, and we have practiced identifying a number of these in class. You may use any handouts and assignments from this class to help you. However, if you simply copy and paste information directly from the Internet (or any other source, for that matter), you will regrettably receive a zero for the entire Exam. Please do your own work; it is open-book, open-note after all.
"Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein
There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.
Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.
Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.
PART 2: After completing your list, compose (at least) one well-developed paragraph (remember to use the CLAIM → EVIDENCE → EXPLANATION pattern in your answers) that responds to the following prompt:
Choose a specific part of the poem "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein (again, see below) that you feel is easy for you to understand, and explain exactly what you think it means and why it seems so easy for you to understand. Then, choose a specific part of the poem that you feel is difficult for you to understand, and explain exactly what you think it is so difficult for you to make sense of. Just do your own work and you will have nothing to worry about.
"Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein
There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.
Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.
Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.