First Lesson

1
First Lesson
By Philip Booth
First Lesson was from Lifetimes Selected Poems
1950-1999

• Presented by Traeann Scheer
• and Kelsey Halleman

2
First Lesson

• The reason that the poem First Lesson should be
  kept is because of the meaning it gives off.
• First lesson has many literary elements such as
  personification, imagery, and even parallelism

3
Rhythm
This is in Free Verse

• Lie back daughter, let your head
• be tipped back in the cup of my hand
• Gently, and I will hold you. Spread
• your arms wide, lie out on the stream

4
Rhyme Scheme

• Lie back daughter, let your head-A
• be tipped back in the cup of my hand-B
• Gently, and I will hold you. Spread-A
• your arms wide, lie out on the stream-C
• The rhyme scheme in First Lesson is Free Verse-
  which means it has no rhythm.
• ABACADEFGDHIHIH

5
Repetition

• The word lie is repeated in lines 1,4,10,14, and
  15
• The word you is repeated in lines 11,13, and 15
• The reason these words are repeated is because
  the writer is teaching his daughter to do a back
  float.

6
Parallelism

• Lines 11, 13, and 15 all end similarly.
• as you float now, where I held you
• cramps your heart what I told you
• stars, lie back, and the sea will hold you.
• you is repeated many 3 times throughout First
  Lesson

7
Consonance

• In lines 12 and 13, there are five repeated
  constants sounds.
• and let go, remember when fear
• cramps your heart
• and once again in line 9..
• me, when you tire on the long thrash

8
Assonance

• Assonance is the vowel sounds in a word that
  repeat frequently.
• to your island, lie up, and survive.

9
Personification

• stars, lie back, and the sea will hold you.
• Personification gives something other than a
  person feelings, movement, etc.
• This poem shows personification by saying the
  sea will hold you
• The sea can not actually hold you

10
Imagery

• Spread your arms wide, lie out on the stream and
  look high at the gulls.
• Imagery is the formation of mental images to
  paint a picture.
• The imagery is shown well in lines 3-5.

11
In conclusion

• Keep this poem in the 2011 textbook because it
  has basic concepts, such as free verse.
• First Lesson also has many elements that refer to
  basic concepts of literature.