Strange Fruit + Southern Trees

03.02.2011

Hey,

today we first did a quick recap of what was to be noted down as far as the 5 senses were concerned. Here is what we said:

ANALYSIS OF STRANGE FRUIT:

1. the sounds
2. historial context
3. interpretation of words (metaphors)
4. the contrasts
5. the 5 senses

Black bodies swinging in the Southern breeze is like an oxymoron because the corpses are in contrast with the southern breeze (a gentle wind).

Other examples:

The scent of magnolia sweet and fresh
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Recap -> The 5 senses (related words):

Touch: flesh – to pluck – breeze (+) - wind (-) - rain
Smell: smell (-) – scent (+) – fresh (+) - magnolia (+) – burning (-) – (to) rot (-) – blood (-)
Taste: sweet (+) - fruit (+) – twisted mouth – bitter (-)
Sight: blood (-) – sun (+) – bulging eyes (-) – twisted mounth (-) hanging (-) – swinging (+)
Hearing: crows – pluck – suck – wind

Hearing: it sounds...
Sight: it looks...
Taste: it tastes...
Smell: it smells...
Touch: it feels...

Utilisation:

S...........+ adj -> "it smells horrible."
S.................+like + N -> "it sounds like the sound of the crows."
S..................+ as if + sentence -> "it feels as if we were present."

Analysis of the 5 senses:

In the poem B. Holiday appeals to our senses.
The lyrics convey a macabre / gruesome / sickening atmosphere.
When we read the poem, it feels as if we were seeing / witnessing the scene.
It looks horrible. It smells like death / like rotten corpses.
It tastes disgusting.
It sounds as if the crows were plucking the bulging eyes of the dead bodies.
And it feels as if we were witnessing a crime.

Opinion and personal feeling:
Intense emotions / contrasted feelings

Then we continued the lesson with a new text entitled "Southern Trees". Here are the first elements of what you said:

The text is an extract from Billy Holiday's autobiography entitled Lady sings the Blues and published in 1956. (i.e., before the end of segregation)

Autobiography: it’s a first person narrative, where the author, the narrator and the subject are the same.

≠ It’s a 3rd person narrative.

HW: get prepared for a vocabulary test + don't forget to prepare your poem project + oral commentary of the poem "Strange Fruit" (5 to 10 minutes' presentation).

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