The clock is ticking, Readers!
Just a few days left until Christmas,
but there is still time enough for another lesson.
Tonight's topic:
Anapestic Tetrameter
What is it?
Let's brainstorm ideas by thinking aloud.
Is it a Christmas season disease,
with the most prominent symptom of pronounced under eye circles
from early mornings
and late nights,
with little rest in between.
Incorrect.
Is Anapestic Tetrameter the outer ankle bone,
cracked from a two stair slip from a quick move and slippery socks?
Incorrect.
Grandma had an unfortunate incident
from a split second lapse in motor planning.
The old bat walked around on a busted foot for two days
until our constant nagging got her in for an x-ray.
The tough old girl won't let her Christmas crack
allow negativity to soak into her spirit.
She's still smiling!
Business as usual with a little help from her family.
Is Anapestic Tetrameter the new secret play
of the fifth grade Huskie basketball team?
Incorrect.
Perhaps Anapestic Tetrameter is a chant from the bleacher bums?
Incorrect,
but getting closer.
Is Anapestic Tetrameter the crazy holiday garb
that has moved from odd to mainstream?
Unfortunately incorrect,
but this garish style fad should have a scientific sounding name.
Is Anapestic Tetrameter the collective measure of
accumulated and then melted snow
over the course of an Erie winter?
Incorrect.
Our fluffy white carpet
has morphed into lumpy wet piles,
dotted with clumps of mud.
The melting snow is nowhere near as pretty as a fresh dusting,
but it does lead the way for some fog.
And it is fog that leads us to the answer to our lesson question.
Anapestic Tetrameter is the measured poetic style
in The Night Before Christmas.
'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house,
not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse."
This style of poem has the
da da DUM da da DUM da da DUM da da Dum rhythm
commonly found in Dr. Seuss Poem's as well.
Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done!
There are points to be scored. There are games to be won.
And the magical things you can do with that ball
*will make you the winning-est winner of all.
I found the book in the photo above
in the Clark School library.
With a copyright date of 1961,
I surely had checked that book out myself a time or two.
The book is so old that it still has the check out card in it.
Finding one of those for me
is like finding a treasure!
I love looking to see if I recognize any names,
and I usually do!
Clement C. Moore has been the long accepted author of this
famous Christmas poem.
However, upon some recent research for lesson planning this week,
I found that the Livingston family is challenging it,
claiming that their ancestor was the original author of the poem.
Dead poet literary scandal aside,
how does Rudolph work in?
Did you know that Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
was originally a poem written in Anapestic Tetrameter,
modeled after the Night Before Christmas?
My students this week cried,
"Rip off!"
"Bogus!"
and the worst elementary school insult--
"Copy-catter!"
Robert L May wrote the poem in 1939
for the Montgomery Ward Company.
He was instructed by the company higher-ups,
to write a story about a Christmas animal that would cheer people up.
The mood of the country was uneasy at the time
with Hitler's rise to power in Europe.
The Montgomery Ward company wanted the story
published in a coloring book type fashion
and given away to holiday shoppers for free.
We compared the poems this week.
Here is Clement C Moore's famous poem:
Here is the beginning to May's Rudolph:
Evidence bullying existed in 1939--
even on the reindeer playground.
Bullying is wrong and it must be stopped whenever it rears its ugly head.
If Rudolph isn't a reminder enough,
maybe Keaton Jones can express the pain in more human terms.
In 1939 Rudolph just cried and was at a loss as to what to do.
And spent a good part of his social life lonesome for a friend.
But things worked out for Rudolph,
so Keaton, don't lose hope.
More similarities:
Clement C Moore
Robert L May
In Robert L May's original poem,
Santa was already en route delivering gifts on Christmas Eve
when a fog rolled in.
When he got to Rudolph's bedroom,
he saw the red glow,
and knew Rudolph could be of service
to all the children of the world.
So Rudolph did what all good reindeer children should--
he left his parents a note and hammered it up to a tree
with the tap-tap- tapping of his black little hoof!
And the rest,
they say,
is history!
I'll leave you tonight with a beautiful Christmas song.
One of my favorite American Idol contestants,
David Archuleta contributes to the song.
Beautiful music,
children in a Christmas pageant,
and the Mormon Tabernacle choir--
you can't go wrong with this one.
At the 3 minute mark,
Eloise always cries.
Enjoy all of the magic and beauty the season has to offer.
Eloise
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